Paperback. Black title on the cream cover.

We provide an in-depth photographic presentation of this item to stimulate your feeling and touch. More traditional book descriptions are immediately available

• This used book has a £3 discount when collected from our shop

For conditions, please view the photographs.

An interesting period in history, a good emperor, a philosopher emperor, but if you do not kill your opponents or potential opponents then you will not survive for long. And Julian did not survive for long, stabbed in the back by the Christian zealots who could not tolerate competition for their new religion. A religion full of contradictions and hypocrisy and a lust for power. Julian was right to allow complete religious tolerance which was soon to disappear with the Christians in control until the Ottoman Empire came to power centuries later. A good read, I am going to try Creation next which looks fascinating.

Review: The sheer detail and exquisite use of the English language makes this an historical and literary feast for anyone remotely interested in the times and people portrayed. They are, one feels, described with consummate accuracy and as much historical veracity as is possible given the passage of time. Julian as a religious rebel in an increasingly over-Christianised society will endear himself to those of us who have a (secret?) yearning for a less hypocritical and pompous dispensation which has hardly proved itself worthy of the very Person who is said to be responsible for its inauguration. A fascinating read – and a pity that Vidal did not write with such acumen and professional style about other figures from the classical past.

Gore Vidal has received the National Book Award, written numerous novels, short stories, plays and essays. He has been a political activist and as Democratic candidate for Congress from upstate New York, he received the most votes of any Democrat in a half-century.