"Gaul is divided into three parts." Originally composed for propaganda purposes, Julius Caesar's war diary is one of the earliest examples of a military science manual, detailing arms technology, tactical maneuvers, battlefield politics, espionage, intelligence and even the role played by luck in ground and sea campaigns.
Nine years of fighting is condensed into a tight treatise rendered in lavish, cinematic prose. Caesar's superior forces crush one defiant Gallic, German and Belgian tribe after another with precise efficiency until an area of almost 200,000 square miles has been conquered. Epic shock-and-awe battle sequences are balanced with quiet scenes of diplomacy and political negotiations that offer useful strategic insight.
Caesar is always thinking through each situation, whether in his tent or in the middle of a ferocious naval skirmish, and he shares his reasoning with remarkable clarity, elaborating on each consideration so that we understand each decision. This is real-life chess on the biggest scale imaginable.
The Gallic War is a warts-and-all look at what it takes to achieve victory, a powerful and raw account of ruthlessness in war.
"The carnage was great."
About the Author: Gaius Julius Caesar (July 100 - 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general, statesman, Consul, and notable author of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the events that led to the demise of the Roman Republic and the rise of the Roman Empire. In 60 BC, Caesar, Crassus, and Pompey formed a political alliance that was to dominate Roman politics for several years. Their attempts to amass power through populist tactics were opposed by the conservative ruling class within the Roman Senate, among them Cato the Younger with the frequent support of Cicero. Caesar's victories in the Gallic Wars, completed by 51 BC, extended Rome's territory to the English Channel and the Rhine. Caesar became the first Roman general to cross both when he built a bridge across the Rhine and conducted the first invasion of Britain.
Much of Caesar's life is known from his own accounts of his military campaigns, and from other contemporary sources, mainly the letters and speeches of Cicero and the historical writings of Sallust. The later biographies of Caesar by Suetonius and Plutarch are also major sources. Caesar is considered by many to be one of the greatest military commanders in history.
