My Book Review > "Dynasty: The Rise and Fall of the House of Caesar" by Tom Holland

Having read 'The Twelve Caesars' by Suetonius, I was excited to read John Holland's 'Dynasty' and I wasn't disappointed, quite the contrary. Oh, I won't say it's an easy book to read (I'm a bookworm, but it took me more than a month to reach the last page); nevertheless, Holland is both a brilliant expert and a very good storyteller who knows how to turn real life history into a vivid story, so that it reads like a novel. What I liked the most is that Holland clearly tried to remain objective and refused to take a simplistic approach. Indeed, there is no systematic condemnation of the Julio-Claudian emperors, and to my surprise I came to realise that Caligula wasn't exactly the tyrant painted by Suetonius and that Livia (Augustus' wife) was much probably largely responsible for the dramatic fate of the Julio-Claudian dynasy. Sometimes, history and real life story are way more fascinating than fiction, and that is particularly true here. I can't recommend this book enough!