"The finest historical novel ever written by an American" Washington Post "It would be easy to over-praise this novel; but there does not seem any adequate reason why this temptation should be resisted" Economist "A novel of extraordinary range, yet of extraordinary minuteness, that manages never to sacrifice one quality for the other" Financial Times "Williams has fashioned an always engaging, psychologically convincing work of fiction - a consistent and well-realized portrait" New Yorker "A highly imaginative account of the life and times of Augustus-a brilliant novel" Library Journal