Reviews for History of the English People Volume I

The average rating for History of the English People Volume I based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2011-11-08 00:00:00 Terje G. Simonsen History of Julius Caesar by Jacob Abbott Though written roughly 100 years ago, it was still an excellent overview of Caesar's life and times. I was already somewhat familiar with his history, but this book went into more detail in areas I wasn't as familiar by highlighting major events in his life as he become the most powerful man in Rome with the entire Roman Empire at his beck and call as "dictator in perpetuity". I learned a number of things, but one that stuck out the most was at the end, Caesar was killed on the day he was going to be crowned King of the Roman empire excluding Rome in order to fulfill a prophecy about a king defeating the Parthians. His conspirators did that on purpose, as a warning to all would be Roman rulers. Too bad it didn't stick, instead it kicked off civil wars and Caesar's grandson Octavius (later Augustus) took over the same role and expanding it, calling himself 'Princeps Senatus' and concentrating more power unto himself, starting the rule of the Emperors, ending the Republic that had existed for 500 years. I thoroughly enjoyed it and would recommend it to anyone wanting a solid overview of Caesar's life and times.

Review # 2 was written on 2013-05-16 00:00:00 Josh Martin Jacob Abbott wrote a series of histories of great historical figures around the turn of the 20th century. This one, about Julius Caesar is one of the best. Abbott provides great details in his books which are short and to the point. Something I liked about this book is that it contains details I didnt know well. Abbott covers Caesar 's early life and his role in the Sylla and Marius conflict well. He also gives ample time to Caesar's conflict with Pompey. The short shift is given to Caesar after the conflict with Pompey was over.