Product Description

The fourth volume in the acclaimed "Emperor" series, in which Conn Iggulden brilliantly interweaves history and adventure to recreate the astonishing life of Julius Caesar - an epic tale of ambition and rivalry, bravery and betrayal, from an outstanding new voice in historical fiction. It looked as if it would be war. The strife between that great figure, Pompey, the Dictator of Rome, and the young general fresh from his triumphant conquests of Gaul and Britain, had come to a head. So Julius Caesar, with all his generals and his four veteran legions, had crossed the Rubicon and was marching towards Rome. But in the wide-reaching Roman Empire there are many more legions, and many loyal to Pompey, and to fight against and kill your own people will never be easy. So even when Julius Caesar, accompanied by Brutus, Mark Antony and Octavian, rode into Rome, the first time they had been back in their home town for over ten years, his path to success would not be easy. His uncanny ability at picking the right notes in his speeches from the Senate steps and his brilliance at communication made him sure of his role, sure of his rightfulness for command, sure that power was his alone. But the power he could achieve in Rome itself was not repeated across the empire - and in Spain, in Africa, in Greece, in all Asia Minor, there were officials, commanders, legions loyal to Pompey and the Roman state. And would the friends who had fought at his side for so long continue to do so, to follow his star? How could Caesar succeed against such odds? "The Gods of War" is the story of ambition and loyalty, of friendship and power, of love and war. A famous tale, of truly epic dimensions, it ranges from Rome to Greece to Egypt and back to Rome; it shows how brilliant generalship can completely turn the odds, how overwhelming success can change even the best of men; it depicts brilliantly those famous names - Caesar, Marcus Brutus, Mark Antony, Pompey, Cicero, Cleopatra, Ptolemy - so that they appear anew. This is a triumphant conclusion to the outstanding "Emperor" series.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #22748 in Books
• Published on: 2006
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 437 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
After the all-conquering film Gladiator, the streets of ancient Rome are thronging as authors rush to set their tales of violent combat and political machinations there. Conn Iggulden’s Emperor sequence is one of the most prestigious of entries in this avalanche, and the latest, The Gods of War, is the most accomplished yet, coming across like Robert Graves’ I, Claudius with an extra adrenalin rush.

In the first volume in this ambitious series, The Gates of Rome, the author demonstrated a master’s skill in conjuring the savagery and sophistication of the era. Iggulden's youthful protagonists, Gaius and Marcus, pledged their friendship in first century Rome. As they developed their skills in the humanities, their bodies were toughened by a battle-hardened ex-gladiator. And as they grew to manhood they became known by the names with which they will be remembered by history: Marcus Brutus and Julius Caesar.

In the latest volume, we're in the time of Caesar as world conqueror, and if The Gods of War delivers more bone-jarring action than subtleties of characterisation, the character of Caesar is still conjured with great vividness. Pompey, dictator of Rome, is at loggerheads with the youthful general, Caesar. The latter, supported by his four experienced legions, has crossed the fabled Rubicon and is heading, inexorably, for Rome. But how does a Roman general take arms against Rome? The senate remains a crucial factor for Caser--as is his association with Mark Antony, Brutus and Octavian. Is this enough to combat the massive legions, loyal to Pompey, spread throughout the conquered world?

More than most in this massive series, The Gods of War is a continent-spanning epic, with the fierce struggles, forced loyalties and Machiavellian intrigues handled with total assurance.

--Barry Forshaw

Review
'If you liked Gladiator, you'll love Emperor' The Times 'A brilliant story -- I wish I'd written it. A novel of vivid characters, stunning action and unrelenting pace. It really is a terrific read.' Bernard Cornwell 'The great events and breathtaking brutality of the times are brought lavishly to life.' Guardian

Guardian
‘The great events and breathtaking brutality of the times are brought lavishly to life.’

Customer Reviews

Pleasantly Addictive
I have picked up the Wolfs of the Plains at Heathrow airport three weeks ago on my way back home and by the time I arrived I decided to order all the historical novels by Conn Iggulden. Now I am almost done with the third book in the Emperors series, the Filed of Swords, so my comment here relates to the whole series.

I have read many books by great authors who excel in bringing ancient events to life, but this guy is unbelievable. My advice is to start reading on a weekend or on a holiday as trying to read it during a working week can ruin your schedule.

I can not comment on the inconsistency of the historical events that many of my fellow readers have expressed their concern about as my knowledge of Roman history remains very general. However, I will say this, these books are of the highest quality as history based novels are concerned. The characters are vivid and the scenes are superbly described. The war scenes alone would get the book a five star rating.

A highly recommended read. A lot of fun.

Excellent, entertaining page-turner
Volume three in the series devoted to the life and times of Julius Caesar. Here, we follow his political and military career from Spain to the conquest of Gaul and his abortive expedition into Britannia. Caesar had a well established political presence in Rome by the time he was given the freedom to pacify Gaul. Once engaged on this task, his star rose higher and higher, aided by Caesar's ability to manipulate news and spin a heady story for the people of Rome.

The cast of characters is well established now and Iggulden is able to leap backwards and forwards between the political chicanery and turmoil of Rome and the battlefields of Gaul, the Rhine frontier, and Britannia, sustaining both strands of the story quite effectively. Caesar was a great military leader - and it is clear that he had the personality to inspire his soldiers and drive them on to victory after victory. But Caesar was also a very ambitious man, politically. Indeed, given the bloody nature of Roman politics, ambition was probably a good survival strategy.

Iggulden manages to make the political in-fighting as exciting and well-paced as the military action - at the price of some over-simplification and a bit of judicious manipulation of history. As a piece of fiction, however, it continues to work quite well. In fact, there may be evidence of a bit more maturity and confidence creeping into his style in this volume, particularly given the more complicated nature of the plot he has to tackle this time.

"The Field of Swords" is an excellent page-turner - if you have read the first two volumes and enjoyed them, this one will not disappoint. If you haven't read the first two, I'd encourage you to start with "The Gates of Rome" to see if you like Iggulden's style and themes - you will lose too much of the back-plot and character building if you leap straight in to volume three

3 down 1 to go
Originally I bought Book 2 (Death) as a holiday read then, at the airport, discovered there was a Book 1 (Gates) with a third to come. So I bought Book 1 as well and groaned at the thought of 1300 or so pages to plough through on holiday. But I did so, thoroughly enjoyed them, and couldn't wait for Book 3. Now I've read it I can't wait for Book 4!
Iggulden has been heavily criticised for historical innacuracy by a few indignant reviewers and they all have a point. Anyone who just watched the BBC's "Rome", for example, would be immediately puzzled by the obvious generation gap between Caesar and Brutus. In the books they were inseperable childhood friends. Well, the BBC has got it right and Iggulden has chosen to ignore the truth for his own purpose.
But so what? I can't get indignant about it. If you want a cracking,exciting, page turning, easy to read historical tale then that's what you'll get. All the well deserved 4 and 5 star reviews bear testimony to that.
If you want greater accuracy with less excitement go for Christian Meier's "Caesar" and/or Tom Holland's "Rubicon". They're fascinating and I got them whilst reading the Iggulden trio on the recommendation of other reviewers.
There's room for all but if you don't particularly want to explore the man (Caesar)and the period further just read Iggulden's great stories and enjoy them for being just that - great stories.
3 down - 1 to go!