Give Me Back My Legions!: A Novel of Ancient Rome

by Harry Turtledove

Book Overview

Bestselling author Harry Turtledove turns his attention to an epic battle that pits three Roman legions against Teutonic barbarians in a thrilling novel of Ancient Rome: Give Me Back My Legions

Publius Quinctilius Varus, a Roman politician, is summoned by the Emperor, Augustus Caesar. Given three legions and sent to the Roman frontier east of the Rhine, his mission is to subdue the barbarous German tribes where...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312605544
• ISBN13: 9780312605544
• Release Date: April 2010
• Publisher: St. Martins Press-3PL
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.4" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

Give me Back my Legions!

This book was for me a page turner, I'm a 70 year old woman. and this was exciting for me. I was almost through writing a research paper on the Battle at Teutoburg Forest, when I received this book. I had a review of the book included in my paper, even though it was fictional, but he was wonderful at putting everything together in a cohesive way. I'm so glad I bought this book. Would love for him to write more on some of the other battles, Alesia.

One Man Against an Empire

Give Me Back My Legions! (2009) is a historical novel set in Germany around 9 AD. The Romans had conquered all the west up to the Rhine and had outposts across the river. Augustus wished to turn Germany into another province of the Empire. In this novel, Augustus is the Emperor of Rome. He prefers to send Tiberius to conquer Germany, but the general is busy putting down a rebellion of the Pannonians. So he chooses Varus instead. Publius Quinctilius Varus is the husband of Augustus's great-niece. He had served as Governor of Syria. Now the Emperor has chosen him to be the Governor of Germany. He is to lead three legions into a final conquest of Germany. Varus has little choice in the matter. Arminius is a German warrior. He has joined the Roman army as an auxiliary to learn about Roman fighting methods. Now he is an officer fighting the Pannonians under Tiberius. Segestes is a German chieftain and a Roman citizen. He is the father of Thusnelda, whom he has promised to Arminius as his bride. In this story, Arminius learns that Segestes has forsaken his promise and bestowed Thusnelda on another man. He gets permission from his tribune to go home to tend to the matter. He sends word to Thusnelda and then steals her away from her father. She happily becomes his wife. Varus arrives by ship at Massilia and then has to travel overland to the frontier. His wife had gone with him to Syria, but has no intentions of visiting the wilds of northern Europe. Varus has only a small retinue of soldiers and slaves. First Varus journeys to Vetera, where his legions are housed during the winter months. There he meets his commanders and gets to know them. When spring comes, he and his legions cross the Rhine and rebuild the camp at Mindenum. Segestes comes to Varus with a complaint about Arminius stealing his daughter. The German chieftain and the Roman general provide a comedy of cultural confusion. But Varus does call Arminius in for a talk. Arminius rides into the camp at Mindenum and reports to the Governor. Varus interprets the conflict between Segestes and Arminius as a case of young love against parental wishes. Moreover, he sees Arminius as a young man much like his own son. They separate on good terms. Segestes comes again to Varus to warn of an attempt by Arminius to stir up resentment against the Romans. The Roman officers warn Varus of the treachery that can be expected from the Germans. But Varus persists in his trust of Arminius. This tale is a fictional account of the events leading to the battle of Teutoburg Forest. The minor details and dialogues are fiction, but the main characters and the battle itself are history. As with all historical events -- including current incidents -- the specific details are mostly lost. For an event that happened two millennia ago, only the broad outlines are clear. None of the main characters wrote a memoir or left any notes, so the author has to extrapolate from other works to com

Not alternative history

For those expecting another alternative history, don't. This book is historical fiction. Being a historian myself, I enjoyed Turtledove's portrayal of the Teutoborg forest battle. It is well written and the main characters are interesting. But outside of Varus, the Roman leader, and Arminius, the primary German leader, the lesser actors are somewhat flat. This is probably due to a lack of detailed information from primary sources. As long as you are a fan of historical fiction, and don't expect AK47 bearing visitors from the future, you will enjoy this book. The flat secondary characters and lack of surprise prevent me rating this a 5.

Solid, but not perfect

I've always enjoyed reading Turtledove's historical fiction, even those that he wrote under the name of H N Turteltaub. With his grasp of history and his talents as a writer, he's generally managed to make everything from the reign of Justinian II to the massacre at Ft Pillow interesting and compelling. He doesn't quite reach up the same standard with his newest work, but to be fair, that's at least in part due to the subject matter. While the slaughter of three Roman legions at the hands of German barbarians is an impressive story, it's by its nature a short one. This therefore requires a great deal of, for lack of a better word, filler and background. While this is helpful, it can't help but feel somewhat tacked-on. Still, Turtledove's filler is at least more interesting that some other writer's main course, and this is no exception. You do get a good feel for why Varus might've been stupid enough to ignore reality and lead his troops into an ambush. You see how the internal politics of Germany might have influenced his choices. It's all speculation on the part of Turtledove, but it's speculation that, rather like Justinian's Crimean nose-job in "Justinian", makes sense. This isn't a novel I'd really recommend to the casual fan. You do have to have an interest in Roman history to find this story... well, interesting. I do, so I did. Whether or not you will is something I leave for you to decide.

Excellent read!

This was a compelling story to read. It reminded me of the 300 story. I bought it after it was recommended to me by another person who had read it.