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A review by davriel
Emperor Nero: The Splendour Before The Dark by Margaret George
5.0
Another cracker from Margaret George, as she does what she does best and that is taking famous (or infamous) figures from history and making them so believable, so relatable and so human. As with her Henry VIII novel there are very sad moments, very tense moments and some joyous and genuinely humorous moments.
The other thing that I loved about this book was that it challenged a lot of the rumours and indeed outright myths surrounding Nero. Given that most of what we know of the man was written by people who outlived him and as such had a vested interest in rubbishing him now that they were working for a new Emperor of Rome. Not that he was a saint but with the nest of vipers the man grew up in is it any wonder he had his flaws? I mean the Julio Claudian Dynasty wasn't exactly a wholesome environment to grow up in. I won't spoil anything but suffice to say George puts across a lot of "What if it went down like this?" options to some of the more infamous situations in Nero's life.
I think really to sum it up, like other Margaret George books that I have had the pleasure to read I was genuinely sad when I came to the end of this book, which in my mind is when you know you have read something special.
The other thing that I loved about this book was that it challenged a lot of the rumours and indeed outright myths surrounding Nero. Given that most of what we know of the man was written by people who outlived him and as such had a vested interest in rubbishing him now that they were working for a new Emperor of Rome. Not that he was a saint but with the nest of vipers the man grew up in is it any wonder he had his flaws? I mean the Julio Claudian Dynasty wasn't exactly a wholesome environment to grow up in. I won't spoil anything but suffice to say George puts across a lot of "What if it went down like this?" options to some of the more infamous situations in Nero's life.
I think really to sum it up, like other Margaret George books that I have had the pleasure to read I was genuinely sad when I came to the end of this book, which in my mind is when you know you have read something special.