Considered the innovator of "horizontal history," Genevieve Foster became frustrated when her two school-aged children complained about the boring presentation of history in their school texts. This frustration led to Foster's first book, George Washington's World (1941). In her unique approach, Foster weaves a story of the world around her central character; rather than focusing exclusively on geo-political events, as most textbooks do; she includes stories of scientific discovery and invention, music, literature, art, and religion. She has a keen intuition for stories that will especially delight and amuse her youthful audience. In Augustus Caesar's World, Foster traces the seven major civilizations Rome, Greece, Israel, Egypt, China, India, and Persia from 4500 B.C. to the time of Augustus Caesar in 44 B.C. and culminating in 14 A.D. Within this timeframe readers will learn not only the stories of Julius Caesar, Cleopatra, and Marc Antony, but also the historian Livy and how Virgil came to write the Aeneid. Foster will then take her readers all over the world to learn what was happening at this same time in China, Persia, India and so on. Foster's detailed pen and ink drawings are fresh and appealing, and her illustrated timelines give a clear sense of chronology, enriching the engaging text. An all-time customer favorite!
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About the Author
"Nothing is more critical, I believe, than that children growing up in these critical explosive days should be given an understanding of American history as a part of the history of the world. Every year this grows more urgent, as increasingly rapid communication integrates world events more closely and the impact of foreign affairs on our own lives becomes more serious and immediate." Genevieve Foster wrote this nearly fifty years ago. It resonates with perhaps more truth today. As a result of this clarion call we have sold many of her enduring "World" titles because of the timeless nature of her books. Her writing style is clear, concise and fluid with her greatest strength as a storyteller being her ability to bring her readers right into the minds and times of her characters.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
66 of 68 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
One of the great bonuses of parenting is that you get to introduce books to your own kids that wowed you when you were a kid yourself. Sometimes your children love the books as much as you did; sometimes they don't. But in either case, you get to revisit with old friends and see how much you and they have changed and retained over the years.
Some of my best book friends when I was a kid were the wonderful illustrated histories of Genevieve Foster, and the one I loved most was *Augustus Caesar's World.* I recently introduced it (and a few others: *Washington's World*, *Lincoln's World*, *John Smith's World*, *Columbus's World*) to my 8 year old, and he's discovering the magic in them I did so many years ago.
There are three qualities to *Augustus Caesar's World* that make it so entertaining and educating. The first is that it's incredibly well written. Foster has the gift of breathing life into historical accounts. In reading about Cicero's execution or the life of Siddhartha, for example, one experiences all the dreadful waste of the one and the liberating wonder of the other. Second, the book is wonderfully illustrated by Foster herself. The illustrations are themselves instructive: along with individual scenarios, she provides time-lines, illustrated most fetchingly, that conveniently encapsulate events and persons. Finally, Foster's histories are really world histories. In *Augustus Caesar's World,* she focuses on the events leading up to the end of the Roman Republic and the establishment of the Empire (roughly, 44BCE to 14 CE). But she doesn't limit herself to Roman history; she also examines events taking place across the world during the time frame in which she's working: the druids in Gaul, Hindus in India, Confucius in China, Mayans in the Americas, and so on. She even includes intellectual history: the origins of Christianity and Buddhism, the Upanishadic culture of the Hindus, etc. Her aim is to give the reader a wide angle of vision, and she succeeds wonderfully.
I'm grateful that Foster's histories are being republished. They don't patronize kids by resorting to silly gimmicks that supposedly make learning more palatable (or at least more marketable). Instead, they make history fascinating the old fashioned way: by showing that it's a great story in its own right. They're a great discovery for my son, and a great rediscovery for me.
35 of 35 people found the following review helpful
By Mary
Format:Paperback
This book was on the reading list in my daughter's 3rd grade curriculum. We read it together and found it fascinating. At first I thought it might be above her reading level, but it was just right. What surprised me was how interested she was in it. Genevieve Foster did a wonderful job with this book. I would also recommend her other history books on: Columbus, John Smith, and George Washington. One thing that makes all these books interesting is that Foster writes about most of the important events taking place around the main character; not just in the immediate vicinity, but in other countries. She gives a global outlook.
20 of 20 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Library Binding
I enjoyed this book so much! It is the story of Caesar Augustus and the world he lived in.
The book starts out with Julius Caesar, Cleopatra and Julius's murder. It discusses Mark Anthony, Cleopatra, Octavian and Lepidus, the formation of the triumvirate and the events which led to Octavian becoming the single head of Rome and his name becoming Augustus. The story of Augustus continues through the reign of his great-great grandson Nero.
The "World" of Augusus Caeser is shown in chapters placed between accounts of Caesar's life. The author shows the development and changes that were going on around the world at that time. This was so interesting!
Besides getting a good picture of Rome, I read about The Festival of Lights and King Herod in Jerusalem, Horace, Virgil and Isaiah; the calanders of the Mayans, how Buddism came to China and who Confucius was. This is a good book that connected many well known, but formerly disconnected, events together in my mind by providing a time line.
The author has a few other books that work the same way set at other times in our world's history and I am planning to read those, too.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
From a student's perspective.
I really enjoyed this book. It was well illustrated and it gave me good visual connections. Very informative. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Michael
3.0 out of 5 stars
Useful, but too many tangents
The portions on Caesar and Roman history were quite good. We used those as read-alouds in our study of Ancient Rome. Read more
Published 2 months ago by M. Heiss
4.0 out of 5 stars
History of the religions of the world
This book covers information about the world's religions including, Rome, Greece, Israel, Egypt, China, India and Persia, from 4,500 BC. Read more
Published 6 months ago by ALG
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent! Higly recommenndable!!
I became interested in this book because I was interested in Julius Caesar and Augustus Caesar. From the first page, my interest was captured. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Rachel
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Treasure!!!!
The book Augustus Caesar's World provides rich information about the ancient world when Augustus Caesar was alive. Reading this book was a great learning experience. Read more
Published on September 24, 2010
3.0 out of 5 stars
OK
I am a big fan of Genevieve Foster's horizontal history.
I was a little disappointed in this book though - I thought it was very informative on Caesar's portion, but... Read more
I was a little disappointed in this book though - I thought it was very informative on Caesar's portion, but... Read more
Published on April 18, 2009 by A. Reimer
5.0 out of 5 stars
Public or homeschool...I recommend this book!
My friend recommended this book in my first year of homeschooling my son. I read it like a novel, in bed, in the bath, riding in the car, I could not put it down! Read more
Published on March 10, 2009 by Anna
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent Resource
I checked this out from the library to research it as a possible source for our homeschooling library and have had trouble putting it down. Read more
Published on February 27, 2009 by Lorelei
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Narrative!
This book is well-written and very interesting. My son consistently asks me to keep reading to him, even when we've run out of time. Read more
Published on November 23, 2008 by Homeschool Mom
5.0 out of 5 stars
Very readable histroy for everyone!
I really enjoyed this book for several reasons. First, the engaging style that invites the reader into the world of Octavian and many of his contemporaries such as Herod the... Read more
Published on October 28, 2007 by Erin J.
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