I am a fan of roman empire military history and was sceptical of the story line when i read the description of the book, i can tell you i am delighted that i read the books anyway. Listen to destinys shield audiobook by eric flint, david drake. Download the belisarius saga audiobook series and listen anywhere, anytime on your iphone, android or windows device. Signin to download and listen to this audiobook today. A military history of the campaigns of belisarius, the greatest general of the eastern roman byzantine emperor justinian. Find out more about the electronic advance reader copies on our faq page.
The story follows flavius belisarius, a real historical figure. His name is frequently given as one of the socalled last of the romans. Belisarius was his third such novel, and while it is a ripping yarn of a book, gravess rich knowledge of the history of christianity and his grasp of the theological conflicts of the day infuse this story of the exploits of one of the greatest generals in history with the byzantine complexities of emperor justinians reign. Count belisarius won the prix femina in april 1938, shortly after it was published, and although some consider it among his best novels,10 others do not. The sixthcentury roman empire is a dangerous place, threatened on all frontiers by invaders. The book wasnt perfect, but it was a great book about a near.
The scope of the book is massiveencompassing religious controversy and cultural developments as well as military. Buy count belisarius penguin modern classics new ed by graves, robert, norwich, john julius isbn. One of the defining features of belisarius career was his success despite varying levels of support from justinian. The book is actually told mostly from the perspective of belisarius s wife, as the narrator is his wifes eunuch slave. Livy, thucydides, herodotus, and certainly xenophon in the persian war. Originally published in 1936, count belisarius has not basked in the same limelight as robert gravess two earlier masterpieces set in the early roman empire. Robert gravess models for count belisarius include some of the great historical works of classical antiquity. Belisarius series 6 primary works 9 total works an epic scope alternate history series in which a crystalline based intelligence is sent back in time to defeat a plot headed up by a computer.
Threatened by invaders on all sides, the roman empire in the sixth century fought to. I was also hoping for some in depth descriptive scenes of. Robert gravess sources for count belisarius include some of the great historical works of classical antiquity. Listen to the complete belisarius saga book series. Other articles where count belisarius is discussed. The belisarius series is a fictional saga in the alternate history and military history subgenres of science fiction, written by american authors david drake and eric flint. Harbors as well as rivers that lead into a nations interior have always been inviting naval targets.
Count belisarius and millions of other books are available for instant access. Count belisarius, penguin modern classics by robert graves. Leading its defense was the byzantine general belisarius, a man who earned the grudgin. Stream and download audiobooks to your computer, tablet or mobile phone. Robert graves 18951985 was an english novelist, poet, and translator of classical greek and roman literature, and one of the most prominent english writers of the 20th century. Count belisarius does make me want to dig deeper into procopius history of the wars of justinian and the secret history. Count belisarius is a historical novel by robert graves, first published in 1938, recounting the life of the byzantine general belisarius ad 500565. This book is set in the waning days of the roman empire, in the 600s ad. Audiobook in this instance works miracles as otherwise i would have missed out on this superb book. Reviews for robert graves count belisarius at the time were mixed.
Invaders threatened on all fronties, but they grew to respect and fear the name of belisarius, the. Listen to destinys shield by eric flint, david drake at. Get the audible audio editions of the belisarius saga series from. Robert graves the greek myths including many of the greatest stories ever told the labours of hercules, the voyage of the argonauts, theseus and the minotaur, midas and his. Belisarius is a series of science fiction novels written by david drake and eric flint. Count belisarius was the last general of the roman empire to be given a triumph. The belisarius series began in 1998 with the novel an oblique approach. Count belisarius by robert graves and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. Its marketed as a book about the outbreak of justinians plague that put a halter on his plans of reconquering the western roman empire.
The sixth century was not a peaceful time for the roman empire. The series concluded with the novel the dance of time in 2006, after six novels. Count belisarius by robert graves, 97801411883, available at book depository with free delivery worldwide. The christian emperor justinian is suspicious and distrustful of his greatest general belisarius. His reconquests of north africa, and sicily in the 530s ce were the high mark of the reign of. While the book had a lot of similar historical intrigue as may be found in i, claudius, the battle scenes lacked. Hughes rejects the image created by robert graves in his novel count belisarius, of a virtually undefeated, nearly saintly hero much put upon by his emperor. Count belisarius is one of the few that takes place after the fall of rome. Free kindle book and epub digitized and proofread by project gutenberg. Earth have sent a crystal, aide, to halt their advance. Belisarius instead has valentinian swiftly decapitate the prisoners to a demonstrate that he does not do the work of menials the malwa have boatloads of rapists and torturers, he is a general.
The books satisfied my facisnation with roman empire history but also gave life to historical characters even though they may not be accurate or factual. Each to their own, but i find robert graves books very difficult to read due to the lengthy narrative with very little dialogue. Aide holds all human knowledge but he cannot act by himself. Count belisarius 1938, a sympathetic study of the great and martyred general of the.
Invaders threatened on all fronties, but they grew to respect and fear the name of belisarius, the emperor justinians. Robert graves author of i claudius very entertaining and generally historically accurate version called count belisarius. Count belisarius by robert graves lisandrocalabresemrs. But soon the attacking armies of vandals, goths and persians grow to fear and respect the name. The book wasnt perfect, but it was a great book about a near perfect man. Though i suppose that in itself testifies to the popularity of belisarius. Count belisarius sounded like a book tailormade for me. He twice defeated the persians and reconquered north africa from the vandals in a single year at the age of 29, before going on to regain spain and italy, including rome briefly, from the barbarians. Sorry, the book that you are looking for is not available right now. A vigorous tale, lacking the completely distinctive qualities of a hero that made claudius so exceptional, belisarius retains the same meticulously arranged background and skilful.
Belisarius saga audiobooks listen to the full series. Other generals and the emperor justinian serve as counterexamples of belisaurius and also reflect the time he lived. Count belisarius is a historical novel by robert graves, first published in 1938, recounting the life of the byzantine general belisarius ad 500565 just as gravess claudius novels i. We did a search for other books with a similar title, however there were no matches. Buy count no man happy buy the softcover version from the publisher. Count belisarius by robert graves overdrive rakuten. Each to their own, but i find robert graves books very difficult to read due to the lengthy narrative. Would you consider the audio edition of count belisarius to be better than the print version. I picked up this book because i positively loved the aforementioned works, and am a great fan of late roman early byzantine history. Written by robert graves, audiobook narrated by laurence kennedy. New from paul kastenellos byzantium in bits and pieces.
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