I have read this book in the english version. It provides a concise and vivid first-person narrative of the tale of Paris and Helen and the historical sack of the great city of Troy. Ms. McCullough again displayed her enormous skill in rejuvenating in her audience the interest in the classical myths told by the classical balladeers. Her characters are more or less the exact replicas of those presented in the classics. Ms. McCullough's effective presentation of human sentiments such as human pride, caprice, greed, secret motives, and the futility of vengeance will definitely ensure the novel's success. The "sad old man" Priam, the "mater dolorosa" Hacabe, the "self-indulgent" Helen, the "crafty" Odysseus, and the "tormented warrior prince" Achilles are but representations of the various people shaping the modern society. A wonderful insight into the Greek world is also evident in the pages such as the prominence of homosexuality (relations among men are generally accepted during that time) which is viewed in a negative outlook today. Nevertheless, the novel is a must-be-read. Five thumbs up!!!

After visiting Troya and looking for Troya history in National Geograpic Magacine and reading Heindrick Scheliemann books about Troya, and many other texts, I found McCullough book a extraordinary tale. Her ways of presenting each personage view of the troyan times and their view of the battle, produce images so clear that I couldn't put the book down. The images stay with me for days. The diferent characters came out so clearly (Ulises,Paris,Agamenon,Aquiles,Hector,Patroclo,Helena,Priamo, Nestor,Calcanto, Penelope,Didiamo etc..). To my taste it is extraordinary. It is amazing, but I question myself in How this writer women could do a male history so well.

For me was the first book that i enjoy since the first word. I love each line and each frase in this novel.

Excelente libro que te permite conocer más afondo la historia de Roma en el período en el cual inició la caída de la República. Un libro que es necesario leer para entender el ascenso de Julio César y la expansión del Imperio Romano por Europa y el Medio Oriente.

El libro te permitirá conocer a personajes muy importantes en la historia Romana que no tienen la fama de Julio César o Marco Antonio, sin embargo influyeron totalmente en el sistema político romano y en su futuro.

Recomiendo totalmente este libro ya que para poder entender mejor toda la serie escrita por la autora este libro es indispensable. Es un libro para todos aquellos que gustan de las novelas históricas y para aquellos que gustan de un buen libro.

The Thorn Birds, written by Colleen McCullough, in my opinion is the greatest romance novel of all time. The character of Meggie Cleary is my favorite character in all of literature. Her strength, beauty, passion and love makes her a timeless heroine. Meggie and Father Ralph share a love story that spans many years and many heartbreaks. Even though they are not together, the book always has a undercurrent where you can feel their longing and endless love for each other, even though they are not together. In their hearts, they will be together forever.Meggie and Ralph are the Romeo and Juliet of the Australian outback- just as tortured and tragic. The miniseries was also fabulous--Richard Chamberlain and Rachel Ward make me speechless every time I see it. It is spectacular. Read The Thorn Birds and watch the series, if you are lucky enough to have the chance. You will never be the same--it's not just a book or a movie, it's an experience. Thank you Colleen McCullough, for such a wonderful story.

The Thorn Birds, by Colleen McCullough, begins in 1915 and spans three generations long. It is a complex story about the Cleary family that leave their home in New Zealand to live and work on a relative's extensive, Australian sheep ranch. At the ranch, the family experiences many tragedies and hardships including fires, floods, droughts, and devastating deaths of loved ones. The main character, Meggie, falls madly in love with a handsome man named Ralph. Unfortunately, Meggie is not able to marry Ralph because he is a priest. Ralph loves Meggie dearly, but has devoted his entire life to God. Throughout the novel, they experience great love and sorrow together. Meggie has children who become the third generation of the novel. The children bring her much happiness, but she still has a deep passion for Ralph in her heart. This forbidden love for Ralph will stay burning inside her soul throughout her entire life.

I truly enjoyed how the author used a lot of description and detail in the novel. This description enabled me to paint vivid pictures of the beautiful, Australian land in my mind, as well as clear pictures of the many different characters' inner and outer appearances.

This extraordinary love story was like an emotional rollercoaster. It twisted and turned leaving me feeling many different emotions including love, humor, sadness, anger, hate, and malice. I often found myself crying as well as laughing while I eagerly devoured every word on the page. It kept me reading and reading until the very interesting ending. I would recommend this captivating novel to anyone who is looking for a great story about life and love! I'm sure you will enjoy it just as much as I did!

"The Thorn Birds" by Colleen McCullough is my favorite novel. It is in a category by itself and deserves more than five stars. I saw ten minutes of the miniseries on television and knew I had to read the book. I was twelve, and the story of Meggie and Ralph moved me to hysterical tears. I am now 18, and I have read the book so many times I have lost count. Set in the Australian Outback in the years surrounding WWII, it is the story of a girl growing up, learning that "The best is only bought at the cost of great pain...Or so says the legend." The courage and strength of Meggie despite the tremendous hardships of her life inspires me. I must admit I fell in love with Ralph de Bricassart; first with his name, then with the man. (I can only hope to find such a person!) All of the other characters--Fee, Paddy, Frank, Dane, Justine, Rain--are developed clearly throughout the story. McCullough is a genius for combining three generations of the Cleary family into one novel! I still cry when I read the story, for the love, and for the pain. The introductory story of the thornbird is a lesson for life: all sadness will pass, and one day something beautiful will come from that pain. A highly emotional book, "The Thorn Birds" is the best work of this century. It is worth reading to anyone who enjoys drama and romance, as well as suspense, action, and sadness! The movie based on the novel starring Richard Chamberlain and Rachel Ward is an excellent interpretation.

McCullough's best. In the genre, you couldn't ask for a better read, especially if you're fascinated by complex personalities and what makes people tick. Having read it years ago, I still remember the vivid characters. Volatile, unpredictable people (including a honey of a villain) are trapped in an enclosed environment, packed with intense emotions. The ending packs a wollop. A good, page-turning entertainment.

This is her best book by far! I read it 15 years ago and have always wanted to do so again. Took it to the beach this summer. Even after all this time, I could still recall nuances of characters, they are so well defined. Remembered that obsession to duty was indecent to the rest of self .Also, that the ending was incredibly sad, but faithful to the theme.

This is a bit off from my normal reading but I first read this book about 20 years ago while on leave from the Army I couldn't put it down. I found it at my girlfriends house and when I went home I found my mothers copy and sat there and read it to the end in one sitting. A great book and a well told story and I loved it but don't ask me why as I just don't know! It was made into a half decent movie not long ago as well.

As a person who adores both Harry Potter and Salman Rushdie, this is one of my all-time favorite books. I have read this book at least 8 times in the past few years, and I have lent it to many a friend and loved one. The story is engrossing, the characters are complex and endearing, and McCullough's writing is magical. As a writer and an editor, this is a story I appreciate every time I read it.

Colleen McCulloch has written many books but I consider this, a very early work, to be her finest. It is a simple story of unconventional love, beautifully told. The characters are very strongly drawn, and it is easy to identify with the feelings of Mary Horton as she comes to grips with her love for a young man so totally unlike her. It is a topic which could so easily have led to a different and tasteless result - instead it is a truly lovely book.

I read "Tim" many years ago and to this day it is my favorite book. I recently listened to the audio version and it really came alive. (If he/she is a good reader, audio is the best way to go) Neither the movie with Mel Gibson nor the made for TV "Mary & Tim" with the Murphy Brown character came very close to conveying the true depths of this love story. McCullough was able to reach down into the souls of these people and show their intrinsic beauty and describe a love that has nothing to do with age or appearance but everything to do with who these people are. When you were little and your mum told you that it's what's inside that counts, you believed her. But we all found out later that it isn't really like that. Ms. McCullough allows us to believe in that again, at least for a little while.

First I have to compliment Colleen McCullough on her research. Truely an outstanding effort and very praiseworthy. Her glossary at the end of the book is excellent and one which I have referred back to more then once for just general information. Having said that I now have to state that the entire series has been going down in quality since the second installment The Grass Crown. With the first two novels it is apparent that Ms. McCullough wrote them more or less simultaneously over a period of several years while doing her very extensive research. I read that she spent over five years researching and writing the first chapters and it shows. The attention to detail is excellent, her characters come to life, they sound and act like Romans. There is nothing modern about her dialouge, plot, or characterization. After a short while I felt like I was reading a prequel to Robert Grave's classic novels about Claudius. The only thing I felt there wasn't enough of was the biting wit that was so prevelant in Graves work. Unfortunly starting with the third installment I saw the old Colleen McCullough coming through. The bestselling author who has written The Thornbirds and Tim. It was obvious that the research was done and the dramatic stage set was built. Now Ms. McCullough is simply filling in with her trademark writing. Instead of a series of Roman novels now we have a soap opera with rather modern characters running around in togas. Instead of intruiging and fleshed out historical personas we have hero worship of Julius Ceaser and two dimensional characters. I made it through the fourth installment and gave up. More tired then disgusted - for what had been rather unusual has now become typical and could just as easily be set in New York City of today. I reccommend the first two novels highly. In my opinion they reach a level higher then the average summertime read, but after that one has mind candy pure and simple. Instead read I, Claudius and Claudius the God and his wife Messalina by Robert Graves if you want truly enertaining fiction set in the Roman Empire. Vale.

So often I read novels with some modest historical references where the author expresses thanks to the "little people" who helped with the research. Sometimes these include dozens of names. Astoundingly in "The First Man in Rome" Colleen McCullough says that is was basically a one woman show. Honestly, this book is such a comprehensive study of an era of Roman history that I think it would be worthy of someone working on a doctorate dissertation. The detail is breathtaking. And Ms McCullough even does the (very good) maps and other illustrations!

It is hard to explain the story of a 1000+ page historical novel. But it basically chronicles the political and military struggles in and around Rome circa 105 BC. The detail to which the author describes these events can be a bit beyond the interest of most readers but at least her prose is very rich and enjoyable to read. And she entertains the reader with several vignettes into the personal lives of the Roman leaders. Rather than dwelling on debauchery and crude aspects of their lifestyle she focuses on aspects on what is important to the Roman citizen: honor, status, money, and power.

Bottom line: a long and sometimes heavy read which is quite simply a masterpiece. Compulsory reading.

This is the first book in a (so far) 5 book series on ancient Rome. I highly recommend the entire series. As has been mentioned previously, the level of detail (and hence research) is amazing and highly engrossing. I know some folks who have given up on this book because of the detail and sheer number of charachters (for shame Mom). To combat this, McCullough has a great summary in each of the subsequent novels and an interesting glossary, defining Latin and other hard to recognize terms (I wish Patrick O'Brien would do likewise). But this book is really focused on Gaius Marius, a remarkable general and a real man's man. While he had nowhere near the pinache or number of victories as Caesar, he was equally as facinating and deserving of the title of a founder of Rome. His victories were a result of tremendous training, a use of spies that would make Sun Tzu proud, weapons innovations, and inspired leadersip. If you are a fan of Roman history or historical novels in general you must read this book. However, throughout the series McCullough's plot lines involve the women, merchants and slaves of Rome as much as the political and military leaders - the intrigue in the bedroom is equally entertaining. This makes the book a great read for any fan of great fiction.

McCullough's "Masters of Rome" series is a remarkable achievement. Who can fail to be in awe of McCullough's research, focus, and dedication?

"The October Horse" is essentially the story of Caesar's adventure in Egypt, his subsequent assassination, and the subsequent rise of his designated heir, Octavius Caesar. It is possible to learn a lot of late Republican Roman history by reading this book.

In "the October Horse" McCullough's writing is much less like a novel and much more like a historical summary than the rest of this series. Her prose is less intimate, more detached, and frankly, less clear and direct than her other books. From this standpoint the novel was a disappointment to me. I also felt that McCullough glossed over Julius Caesar's evident megalomania in his latter days. Possibly because McCullough is herself so enamored of Caesar, whom she portrays as virtually a god on earth, she seems to gloss over Caesar's frank undermining of the key institutions of the Roman Republic. Once Caesar became dictator for life, the Republic never recovered and eventually declined into the Imperium.

One strong point of the novel is that it does a pretty good job of portraying Octavius Caesar. By the end of the novel I felt that I knew him, and that I understood how he was able to rise to eventually become Rome's first emperor.

I would have liked the novel better if it had focused more on how the Roman Republic was ultimately destroyed by Caesar and Octavius (and, to be fair, by their enemies including Cato and his "Good Men"). I felt that the novel would have been better had McCullogh engaged in more novelization and less historical summary. Despite these criticisms (which, to be fair, not everyone may agree with) the novel is a good read and certainly constitutes fine historical fiction.

Unlike Steven Pressfield's "Gates of Fire", Colleen McCullough's Masters of Rome series avoids moral or philosophical themes. McCullough takes all known historical facts about republican Rome and turns out a novel. Where there are gaps in what we know, she imposes her own interpretations and extrapolations, which all serve to develop her characterization of historical figures. All this makes for a rollicking good read.

The Rome series spanned the life of Julius Caesar whose time to die has finally arrived; McCullough could not stretch him out for another novel. She gets the death scene right, presenting Caesar's fall with understated elegance, in spite the gore.

Besides Caesar, we are treated to a legion of other characters: Cleopatra, Brutus, Mark Antony, Cato, to name a few, and also interesting completely fictional characters such as Caesar's Egyptian doctor Hap'fadne. But my favourite of all is Octavius. Octavius closes the series the end of the book, we are left with just a twenty five year gap before he reappears as Augustus in Robert Graves's "I, Claudius".

It's interesting to note that McCullough wrote two non-Roman books between Caesar and October Horse. I suspect she was putting off killing Caesar because she had grown too fond of him. There is precedent: Alexandre Dumas went into a deep depression after killing Porthos in the last book of the Three Musketeers series.

I'm a huge fan of McCullough's Rome series. I've been entranced since "The First Man in Rome", which was quite a while ago. I honestly wish this wasn't the end.
Having said that, I found this one a little hard to get through. The dozen principle characters are well drawn and three dimensional, but the 752 other people who populate every corner of the novel kinda muddy the waters. Many seem superfluous, although those with a better classical education than I will no doubt enjoy their presence. There are passages which read so fast, I was left breathless. But there are also several passages where I literally had to back up, get some momentum, re-read a few pages, and hammer my way through.
Caesar, Cato, Octavian, Brutus, Cicero...these portrayals are so vivid they will affect every non-fiction account about this time period I'll ever read.
The worst thing I can say about this book is that now I have the urge to go back to Book One and start over. I hope she'll change her mind and take us through Octavian's life...I've got to go get some history books so I can find out what happens with him, Antony, Cleopatra, Caesarion...

I am a Colleen McCullough fan, big time. I've read all her four books in the series at least 3 times EACH. Seriously. I enjoyed Caesar, A Novel very much. However, somehow the people in this book seem less lively than those of her earlier books. Gaius Scribonius Curio pales compared to Lucius Appelius Saturninus. Marcus Antonius is much less vividly portraited than Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus in Fortune's Favorite. You don't find your heart bleeding for Marcus Junius Brutus quite as much as the true patriot of Marcus Livius Drusus in The Grass Crown... the list goes on. Maybe it's more the fault of those people in history than of Colleen. Even the victories entry of Caesar into Rome was much less poignant than Lucius Cornelius Sulla's return; and for all the brutality, the account of Sulla's assuming the dictatorship is much more riveting than the off-hand manner Collen dealt with Caesar's first dictatorship. At the very least, the burning of the Senate House following Publius Clodius' death should have felt much more like a big ticket item, and ought to have been treated more detailedly in lieu of Caesar's endless journeys in Gaul. Needless to say, Pompeius Magnus all of a sudden looked more foolish and un-commanding than Marcus Aemilius Lepidus who was trounced in 78 BC. I just could not quite buy that. I think Colleen went a little too far in her Caesar worship. Pompey was a great general in his own right, even though he lost. I hope the next book is much better

This novel relates the exploits of one Gaius Julius Caesar, covering the time period November 54 BC to September 29, 48 BC. The setting is the ancient Mediterranean Roman Republic and its Provinces, enemies and allies.

The novel explodes during Caesar's Gallic War (specifically, Gallia Comata -> Gaul of the Longhairs -> roughly modern France). There are numerous battles; power plays to control Gaullic tribes and Caesar tries to enlist some of Gauls on his side. At one point, Caesar constructs a type of military fortification known as a circumvallation; essentially a series of walls over 10 miles long, in this case, around the city of Alesia.

After this, there is the run up to the Civil War. The political intrigues of the Senate and People of Rome (the Roman Government) are described. It was fascinating to read of the power plays used by the Romans; the planning behind the campaigns for political office, the running of the courts and the relation of Rome to Italia and the Provinces. The noble ruling class (patricians) constantly worries of how it will maintain itself apart from the influence of the plebeians (commoners); the plebeians are potential rioters and clients (in Roman terms, this meant for a plebian to owe political and economic allegiance to a patrician). Then, Caesar crosses the Rubicon (a river separating the Provinces which he administers and Italia proper) sparking the Civil War. Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (Pomey the Great) heads the anti-Caesar side. As Caesar advances toward Rome, Pompey panics and decides to abandon Rome and evacuate the Government to Greece...

The general tenor is the novel is fascinating; however one can become loss in the great detail of geography that McCullough provides. Fortunately, there are about 5 maps in the novel depicting the various areas. Also, the narrative includes details concerning the inner workings of a Roman military camp, Roman military logistics and the legal/constitutional setup of the Roman Republic. Again, McCullough provides a rather extensive glossary of terms, which the reader will find very helpful.

Given that much of the novel consists of military campaigns (there is a fair amount of politics involved as well; the military and the political often clash and mesh with each other), one learns the great importance of food. There is a constant concern that the Generals must find (and obtain by force, if necessary) food to feed their troops. This factor comes up in several different contexts; the sieges, being far from Rome, the problems when the local area suffers from a famine and so on. Also, the fact that the soldiers expect and get much personal wealth (and Caesar personally), by looting defeated cities and tribes of all their silver and gold is a concept that may be very familiar to the modern reader. Yet, that was one of the big draws to getting involved in wars.

My one negative criticism of the novel is the seeming adoration with Caesar himself that McCullough puts into the story. It seems that Caesar will win every battle, win every discussion and outplan or outplan his foes. There is a feel that Caesar's victories at almost predestined at some points.

Historical Accuracy:

The novel has as its source material to primary documents written by Gaius Julius Caesar himself ("The Gallic Wars," and, "The Civil War"). Due to the fact that Caesar was writing the Gallic Wars as something like a series of status reports to the Senate of Rome, there is a possible tendency that he inflated his victories. Especially, since the Gauls of this time period left no written records about themselves, one must rely on others descriptions of them. In the, "Author's Afterword," McCullough explains in about 4 pages what changes she has made to actual history of the events. For a history student, this is extremely informative. I expected that McCullough would have been much more liberal in her dramatic retelling but I am quite impressed with her fidelity to the facts.

McCullough ends her Afterword by stating: "The next book will be called, 'The October Horse.'" I look forward to reading this next installment in, "The Masters of Rome," series.

Colleen McCullough's latest book, Caesar, is not from my viewpoint the best of the series ("Masters of Rome"). They are all fabulous. I've always been a student of history, but never have I had it handed to me and such a wonderful platter.

McCullough not only tells you what happened, but gives you the reasons why it happened. You are treated to the jealousies and intrigues among Rome's ruling elite as the "Boni" go after Caesar and his "populars."

But this novel is primarily about the rivalry of two giants in Roman history, Pompieus Magnus (Pompey the great) and Gaius Julius Caesar. Allied in the first triumverent we see the death of Julia, Caesar's only daughter and Pompey's wife as the beginning of the end of a very successful political alliance.

As Caesar's success mounts in Gaul, his fortunes at home start to decline. There really was a great right wing conspiracy against Caesar as the Senate jockeys to get Caesar back to Rome without imperium so that they could prosecute and persecute him. Pompey becomes a pawn for the anti-Caesar Senate faction and the political moves and countermoves are fascinating to watch.

Finally, with his back against the wall, Caesar crosses the Rubicon and "lets the die fly high." McCullough's is meticulous in her scholarship. The few times she departs from actual history she will tell you. Or if there is more than one interpretation she tells you not only what the other one is, but why she chose hers. There are two interpretations of the Latin with the subtitle of the book. The first is the one I had heard of "The die is cast." McCullough rejects this, feeling that Caesar was more optimistic than that and a bit of a gambler. When he crossed the Rubicon with his troops, he had abandoned the law and was going for it all. McCullough felt that he would see this as throwing the die in a gambling game and was full of hope rather than resignation.

You get a great view of Roman life, politics, religion, the legal system, etc. from the entire series. This book can stand alone, but is much more meaningful if you read the series in order.

Would I recommend this book? I've given copies of this and others in the series to friends of mine and I've read them all twice.

Morgan's Run gets off to a slow start with in-depth background description. Once past the initial basic information of the story, Morgan's Run becomes a book that is hard to put down.

Convicted unfairly of a crime whose penalty is seven years and transportation, Richard Morgan learns to live as a prisoner. Life aboard the prison ship is a job in itself to stay alive.

Arriving in Botany Bay, Richard plies his trade as a gunsmith to the building of a convict community. Having lost his wife and child to death before being sentenced, he lives alone and desires no woman. As more and more convicts arrive, living quarters become sparse and each is required to take in a convict. A frightened young girl, half his age, ends up in his house and thus begins the thawing of his heart. Richard finishes his sentence and deems to stay in this new land and with his new love.

Having read most of Ms.McCullough's books, I was looking forward to Morgan's Run. Although the book got off to a slow start and the detailed descriptions made for very slow reading, I was not disappointed. One of the reasons I like reading Colleen McCullough's books is that her reasearch is very thorough. She describes in detail how people performed everyday tasks. Her descriptions of life in the jails and aboard the convict ships show the hardships of the times and what these people really had to endure. Alot of other books, and especially the movies, paint too romantic a picture. You could almost smell the stench of the prison hold. I liked the character of Richard Morgan. And, even though he may be bigger than life and almost too perfect, isn't that what a hero is? Looking forward to the sequel.

I have read all of Colleen McCullough's novels, and found the Masters of Rome series to be absolutely riveting as well as informative and "real" - Rome at that time came alive for me and the characters had real depth. In addition, she managed to create riveting plot lines that brought me into all the action and helped to make sense of a very far away and ancient time.

Unfortunately, I did not have this same experience with Morgan's Run. I really wanted to know about the beginnings of Australia, and in her usual thorough manner, Ms. McCullough taught me a lot. Even though Richard Morgan is a complex and interesting character, I did not feel myself really caring about him or the many, MANY people he comes into contact with. Near the end of the story I started to finally get into the message that I think she was striving to convey....quiet strength ultimately overcomes adversity, but Richard was SO quiet that he almost bored me. The character, Meghann, in The Thorn Birds, came totally alive for me and Caesar is incomparable in the Rome Series (I am in love with this man and wish I could time travel, even if only half of her description of him is true!). Richard Morgan seems to be more of a plot mechanism and she almost uses this poor man as badly as the people of his time tried to do. He is admirable but there is so much detail written about what happens AROUND him that I barely got to know HIM. I will, however, read the sequels because of the historical knowledge I will gain and because I am now familiar with the main characters and am beginning to see them as more three dimensional.