Synopses & Reviews
A translation that captures the power of one of the greatest war stories ever told-Julius Caesar's account of his brutal campaign to conquer Gaul
Imagine a book about an unnecessary war written by the ruthless general of an occupying army-a vivid and dramatic propaganda piece that forces the reader to identify with the conquerors and that is designed, like the war itself, to fuel the limitless political ambitions of the author. Could such a campaign autobiography ever be a great work of literature-perhaps even one of the greatest? It would be easy to think not, but such a book exists-and it helped make Julius Caesar a legend. This remarkable translation of Caesar's War for Gaul captures, like never before in English, the powerfully concise style of the future emperor's dispatches from the front lines in what are today France, Belgium, Germany, and Switzerland.
Review
"A vigorous, modern, and uncluttered translation." Lawrence Freedman, Foreign Affairs
Review
"No one has come close to capturing Caesar's verbal celerity in anything like the way James O'Donnell has. His disciplined application of a terse, bracing style is both readable and simulates something of the experience of the original audience. This makes for a gripping read and brings out what made Caesar famous as an author in his own time. A genuinely distinctive and valuable translation." Andrew M. Riggsby, author of Caesar in Gaul and Rome
Review
"To publicize his campaigns in Gaul, Julius Caesar invented a new genre — and a direct, swift, but careful narrative style, like a tight skin around the events he recounts. James O'Donnell admirably renders this style in English, ventriloquizing Caesar's mysterious genius.” Sarah Ruden, translator of Augustine's Confessions
Review
Caesar waged prose as he waged war — in ways swift, economical, and ruthless. One sign of the businesslike slaughter of this book is its author's famous use of the third person about himself. He made the mere word 'Caesar' a weapon to be wielded against his foes. O'Donnell enhances this fine translation by prefacing each yearly report from Gaul with a description of what was going on in Rome at the same time, allowing us to see how profoundly the two streams of action affected each other.” Garry Wills, author of Rome and Rhetoric: Shakespeare's Julius Caesar
About the Author
James J. O'Donnell is professor of history, philosophy, and religious studies and University Librarian at Arizona State University. His books include Pagans, The Ruin of the Roman Empire, and Augustine: A New Biography.