Gore Vidal's fictional recreation of the Roman Empire teetering on the crux of Christianity and ruled by an emperor who was an inveterate dabbler in arcane hocus-pocus, a prig, a bigot, and a dazzling and brilliant leader.
Read More
Gore Vidal's fictional recreation of the Roman Empire teetering on the crux of Christianity and ruled by an emperor who was an inveterate dabbler in arcane hocus-pocus, a prig, a bigot, and a dazzling and brilliant leader.
Read Less
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Very good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
The best historical novel I know. The outstanding work of Vidal's.
Scottjb
Mar 13, 2008
Timeless writing on a lost time...
Julian, by Gore Vidal, is a wonderful read. It takes you immediately into the fade of Greek rule, circa 300 AD, leading you by correspondences between multiple stakeholders, providing the reader a variety of sidelong views of the time, and the personage, Julian. As it is a tale of the rise and fall of an Emperor, it is at once entertaining, full of intrigue and guile, and informative historically. It is an exquisite novelist's history of Julian and his times, with the characteristically wry conversations you would expect from Vidal -- but they proceed from his characters -- their comments interwoven throughout their epistles. There is humor, hubris, sadness for a lost world of philosophy -- times that are gone -- and a wistfulness for political leadership once that examined thought and beauty -- times clouded as they gave way to the era of papal infallibility, faith and belief -- as Christianity took hold. Most highly recommended!
