Description: Vercingetorix, the great Gallic warrior, was both a man of history and a man of myth. In this masterly novel, Norman Spinrad boldly imagines his life. King of the druids, King of One-Hundred Battles, he was among Caesar's greatest opponents; his eventual defeat at Caesar's hands was said to prove the emperor's unstoppable power. And now, Vercingetorix is the heart and soul of this enthralling and evocative historical novel. We observe his father's fiery death, which leads to Vercingetorix's years of exile, living deep in the forests with the druids, learning the power of magic. We are witness to his decision, in the face of the looming shadow of Rome, to become a warrior, and his subsequent gathering of the Gallic tribes into a single army, ragtag but determined to face down the might of the Romans. The dramatic and legendary moments of his life, played against a brilliantly created background of the disparate worlds of Gallic and Roman soldiers, hold us riveted. And the story of the doomed, heroic 27-day siege that spelled Gaul's defeat and Rome's ascendancy, and set Vercingetorix along his final path toward a martyr's sacrifice, round out a novel that richly traces the are of a hero's life.

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