Augustus

John Williams was an author, editor and professor. Born in 1922 in Texas, he served in the United States Army Air Force from 1942 to 1945 in China, Burma and India. His first novel, Nothing But the Night, was published in 1948. After receiving his PhD in 1954, Williams returned to the University of Denver where he first studied to teach literature and creative writing for thirty years. It was during this time that he wrote the novels Butcher's Crossing (1960) and Stoner (1965). His last novel, Augustus, won the National Book Award in 1973. John Williams died in Arkansas in 1994.

WINNER OF THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY JOHN MCGAHERN 'Unreasonably neglected, John William's novels Stoner and Augustus are held to the light and shown to shine' Scotsman After the brutal murder of his great-uncle Julius Caesar, Octavian, a shy and scholarly youth of nineteen, suddenly finds himself heir to the vast power Rome. He is destined, despite vicious power struggles, bloody wars and family strife, to transform his realm and become the greatest ruler the western world had ever seen: Augustus Caesar, the first Roman Emperor. Building on impeccable research, John Williams brings the legendary figure of Augustus vividly to life, and invests his characters with such profound humanity that we enter completely into the heat and danger of their lives and times. 'The finest historical novel ever written by an American' Washington Post