Book five in McCullough's Masters of Rome series, this is the story with which most are familiar: Caesar;s Gallic campaigns, Pompey's rise to power and his clash with Caesar. The triumvirate and the Roman civil wars. Despite being well known, McCullough paints a richer tapestry than previous portrayals. ( )

The Fifth book of The Masters of Rome series focusing on The Gallic Wars followed by Caesar's march across the Rubicon and the defeat and death of Pompey Magnus. This one was slow going for me at first - McCullough just plunks us down in Gaul at the begininng of the novel without much backstory or summary of the previous novel. With these intricate novels, I find I need that plot rehash to warm me up.

I found all the names of people, places, and tribes in Gaul hard to follow and I really wasn't emotionally involved in the battles as I have been in previous descriptions. Marius' defeat of the German hordes and the Italian War from her previous novels were more dramatically detailed.

I did begin to enjoy things more as the focus returned to Rome and McCullough fleshed out the political climate of the time better. I most enjoyed Caesar's pursuit of Pompey, the introduction of Egypt and Cleopatra, and certainly Pompey's finale was tragically well done -- I did feel pity.

Despite these more well known stories (I couldn't help but picture the actors from HBO's fabulous Rome series in my mind's eye) this one wasn't my favorite -- but still the series is captivating from both a dramatic and historical perspective. ( )

First class research, first class recreation of an alien culture. Her Caesar is a super-man, whose passions, intellect and temperament are quite unbelievable. She describes him as possessing terrific charm, and her character does possess that charm, so that you do believe in him, and sympathize with him, and cheer for him. ( )

Plot: The first half closely follows Caesar's Commentarii de Bello Gallico, while the second half deals with the civil war up to Pharsalus. The two central plots give the story better momentum than the previous two volumes and provide a framework for the omnipresent side plots. Overall the book is streamlined in comparison to its predecessors.

Characters: The cast has narrowed down, which makes it relatively easy to keep everybody straight. Caesar is too idolized and perfect to really enjoy him. Everybody gets plenty of attention and it's made plain why they take their respective sides. Dithering between sides is glossed over.

Style: The book had moments when it got lost in details, especially towards the end. Good descriptions of battles and senatorial debates. Information from the past books is brought in little bits that are just manageable without becoming too obnoxious. The prose is nice and fluid to read.

Plus: There's a constant feeling of movement about the book. The usual attention to detail and consideration of small gossipy incidents.

Minus: The maps should have been collected at the back. A family tree is missing, while the drawings don't add anything. Caesar is too perfect and his motives aren't questioned enough.

Summary: This book is entering well-known territory and can be read without knowledge of the previous volumes. Solid narration, but the characterization is a touch too black-and-white. ( )

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