A compendious and thought-provoking study

McLynn has written a huge, erudite survey of the social, cultural, economic and political world of the second century AD rather than a mere biography of Marcus Aurelius...there is much to enjoy here and even more to be learned

By exposing the real Marcus Aurelius, this biography illuminates an important era of transition...it was under Marcus that the delicate balance was disturbed and this, too, is his legacy.

Plain, polished, panoramic biography.

If you like your history feisty, opinionated and judgemental McLynn is the man for you... it certainly makes for a terrific read.

Highly recommended

Ian Mortimer's decision to tell this story in diary format, giving us an almost day-by-day account, would not have suited every historical study, but in this instance was a stroke of genius. The danger would have been excess of extraneous detail, but Mortimer's instinct is superb and what we get instead is the mythical hero-king- immortalised by the Lawrence Olivier film- rendered suddenly human and close.
/
The immediacy of the format makes Henry real and flawed; a disturbing and compelling individual.

Mortimer creates a convincing new likeness

a three dimensional portrait

immerses the reader in the heady drama and the dull routine of a 15th century king's life

What makes his memoir so absorbing as it swings from clever phrase-making and thoughtful contemporary history to wince-inducing self-analysis, is that he is the first of a generation of politicians to conduct their craft as if observing themselves from an amused an admiring distance - and then to write about it. No recent politician has examines his own motives and psychology quite so candidly

It is the small revelations about the character of Blair that make this book worthwhile

It's a gripping insight into the ex-PM's ten years of power . . . It will take a lot for many people to read his own take on the rise and fall of New Labour, but those that do might be reminded of the charm and vision that swept him to power

I have read many a prime ministerial memoir and none of the other authors has been as self-deprecating, as willing to admit mistakes and to tell jokes against themselves

Paints a candid picture of his friend and rival, Gordon Brown, and of their relationship