a very well written book,interesting and informitive.

Everitt's "Augustus" is accessible, easy to read, and written in a style that is neither dry nor overly ambitious. It stands out as a logical, well thought out biography of a hugely influential figure in a time of great change.

Everitt writes a fantastic biography on Rome's first Emperor. Basing himself on mostly primary sources, he is able to construct the life of Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus in manner that makes the book hard to put down. Most of the book concentrates on Augustus' life between the death of Julius Caesar and his conflict with the great Marcus Antonius. Everitt constructs a wonderful history of these events. It was hard to put down the book during these parts.

Having established his power (and a new name) Everitt describes how Augustus shrewdly enabled himself to be the dictator Caesar wanted to be without actually appearing to be the tyrant Caesar was. The lasts parts of the book give a great account into how Rome was governed under Augustus and also what life must have been like for the princeps.

As for his youth, it is hard to construct a history as the sources are scarce. Everitt gives us an account on what it may have been like for young Octavian to grow up in ancient Rome.

The book contains it all: war, peace, romance, sex...Readers will come out having a better understanding of the establishment of an empire by a man who may not have had Antony's charm or Caesar's flare; what he did have is an amazing understanding of the realpolitik of his day, which allowed him to rule and become (in my opinion) the most successful ruler of Ancient Rome and one of the most admirable men in history.

In reading “Augustus”, it becomes even more clear to me how different he was from his mentor and predecessor, Julius Caesar. While Caesar blows you away with his almost reckless genius and skill on the battlefield and in the political arena, Augustus as a man is far less inspirational and charismatic--he is more of a competent administrator--reacting to rather than driving events--and frankly an insidious plotter and poseur with little basic sense of honor and country, unlike Caesar. I wasn’t a huge fan of Augustus before reading this book, and came away liking and respecting him even less, although I don’t think this was the intent of the book. In my mind, longevity was his greatest claim to fame. The Roman empire was already at a peak before he came to power, although he did have a number of administrative achievements to his credit which extended the life of the empire. As to the book itself, as was his previous work, “Cicero”, Everitt’s latest work is entertaining, an easy and well-flowing read, and well-researched. This is a very quick read, doable in a good weekend. Overall, well worth the rather small effort!