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Julian

By: Gore Vidal
Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner, George Newbern, David de Vries, Jeff Cummings
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Publisher's summary

The remarkable bestseller about the fourth-century Roman emperor who famously tried to halt the spread of Christianity, Julian is widely regarded as one of Gore Vidal’s finest historical novels.

Julian the Apostate, nephew of Constantine the Great, was one of the brightest yet briefest lights in the history of the Roman Empire. A military genius on the level of Julius Caesar and Alexander the Great, a graceful and persuasive essayist, and a philosopher devoted to worshipping the gods of Hellenism, he became embroiled in a fierce intellectual war with Christianity that provoked his murder at the age of thirty-two, only four years into his brilliantly humane and compassionate reign. A marvelously imaginative and insightful novel of classical antiquity, Julian captures the religious and political ferment of a desperate age and restores with blazing wit and vigor the legacy of an impassioned ruler.

©1962, 1964 copyright renewed 1990, 1992 by Gore Vidal. (P)2019 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.
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What listeners say about Julian

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Excellent

Fascinating story, beautifully written, especially since the subject hasn’t been explored in historical fiction. Not a fan of this author otherwise, nor his worldview, but the book itself is excellent.

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1 person found this helpful

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I love learning history

interesting story recounting the history of an unsung hero. I learned many things about the unfortunate rise of christianity.

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Heartbreaking

An excellent telling of the story of a man who fought against the inexorable march of time.

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1 person found this helpful

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Brilliant!

I enjoyed thoroughly this wonderful book about the emperor Julian. Gore Vidal transports us that time and place and make us eyewitnesses of an extraordinary figure of ancient history. The narration was superb!

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A Sweeping History

Quite a scholarly book in the historical detail. I listened to it over a few weeks and lost track of some of the characters. Told by several different narrators, which enhanced the production.

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Vidal always provides a depth to historical fictio

Gore Vidal's historical fiction provides more insight than most other. His political courage is missed today.

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Historical Fiction Done Well

I enjoyed listening to Julian's story. The narration was really spot-on. The narrators were diverse enough to not even have to think who was speaking as I already knew based on their voices. The story is also really interesting even if not all parts are historically accurate.

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Gore Vidal has won me over

Well written history of people and a time I had little knowledge of. Easy to listen to. Well narrated. A very different perspective of religion and..philosophy developed through well developed historical people of the time. Makes you think.

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Brilliant narration!

The narrator does justice to Vidal's masterpiece. Not one dull moment. The narration grips you instantly.

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14 people found this helpful

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Excellent

Off to find more Vidal! The fame of his wit is surprisingly well-founded. This is an excellent, intellectually dense novel and its performers were up to the task. Bravo!

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