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Spartacus: The Gladiator^Spartacus: The Gladiator Hardcover – 15 Feb 2012

by Ben Kane (Author)

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"Historically very little is known about Spartacus. We know that he came from Thrace, a land north of Greece, that he once fought in the Roman legions and that, during two fateful years, he led a slave army which nearly brought Rome to its knees. In Ben Kane's brilliant novel, we meet Spartacus as he returns to Thrace, ready to settle down after a decade away. But a new king has usurped the throne. Treacherous and violent, he immediately seizes Spartacus and sells him to a Roman slave trader looking for new gladiators. The odyssey has begun which will see Spartacus become one of the greatest legends of history, the hero of revolutionaries from Karl Marx to Che Guevara, immortalised on screen, and now brought to life in Ben Kane's great bestseller - a novel which takes the story to its halfway point and is continued in Spartacus- Rebellion."

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Product details

Hardcover: 448 pages
Publisher: PREFACE; 1 edition (15 February 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1848093403
ISBN-13: 978-1848093409
Product Dimensions: 15.9 x 3.9 x 24.1 cm
Boxed-product Weight: 699 g
Average Customer Review: 1 customer review

Product description

Review

"Gritty, passionate and violent, this thrilling book is a real page-turner and a damn good read. It brings Spartacus - and ancient Rome - to vivid, colourful life" (Steven Pressfield, bestselling author of Gates of Fire)

"Ben Kane manages to bring a freshness to the saga ... Told with Kane's usual panache and historical knowledge, this book is highly recommended" (Kathy Stevenson, Daily Mail)

"Eyes are merciless, blows are wicked and screams are piercing, but this is a compulsive if relentless story, vividly recounted in muscular prose. Definitely one for the boys" (Daily Telegraph, 4 stars)

"If you want to become familiar with the lanista and the rudus, to know your scutum from your licium, then Kane's your man ... plenty of action" (Independent)

"There is much to enjoy in this saga of the downtrodden triumphing temporarily over their oppressors, and the portrait of Spartacus as charismatic leader is a vivid one" (Sunday Times)

Book Description

"The first of two epic novels which tell the story of one of the most charismatic heroes history has ever known - Spartacus, the gladiator slave who took on and nearly defeated the might of Rome, during the years 73-71 BC."

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A fantastic retelling of Spartacus.

20 June 2019

Format: Hardcover

Ben Kane's Spartacus series is an amazing read and Book One "The Gladiator" is arguably one of Kane's finest. I loved this take on Spartacus and could not stop myself from turning page after page. This book is a bloody good read! Gates of Fire author Steven Pressfield says it all in his view on the book: "Gritty, passionate and violent, this thrilling book is a real page-turner and a damn good read. It brings Spartacus - and ancient Rome - to vivid, colourful life"
Consisting of only two parts, Spartacus is the best place to get into Ben Kane, if you are a fan of Historic Fiction and/ or Ancient Rome his books are a must. and I highly recommend him as an author.

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Amazon.com: 62 reviews

Mark

Fast Moving Account of Spartacus

10 December 2017 - Published on Amazon.com

Verified Purchase

I enjoyed this account of Spartacus. It was fast moving and had many action/battle scenes. My background of the Spartacus story orginally was the 1960's movie and more recently the Starz, production which is a series. My only complaint was that I was expecting some arena gladiator fighting which was not included in this version. The author touched on this in his notes at the end. In any case I would recommend this novel to anyone who enjoys historical fiction from the ancient Roman era.

One person found this helpful

RandyCook

Spartacus Lives!

1 May 2015 - Published on Amazon.com

Verified Purchase

I'm posting the same review for SPARTACUS: THE GLADIATOR and SPARTACUS: REBELLION because I can't imagine reading one and not the other. It's one story and it's a brilliant one.

Mr Kane mentions in the Afterword how deeply the story of Spartacus touched him. It's an enduring legend because anyone can relate to the courage of one man against impossible odds. His legend has also endured due to the fine work of writers like Howard Fast and Ben Kane. I read somewhere the best writers don't write in ink, they write with blood. There's so much heart in these books, I can see Mr Kane's devotion to the legend on every page.

The final battle is one of the most thrilling accounts of what it would be like to stand in a shield wall against the odds with trusted friends all around you I've ever read. I can only compare it to BCornwell's account of Waterloo or DJackson's wonderful depiction of Claudius' victory in Britain. Mr Kane mentions reenactors in his afterword, but it's not hard to imagine in another life he stood on an ancient battlefield swapping sword blows. His writing has that level of authenticity.

I could go on, but I need to get stuck into another of Mr Kane's books right away! Thank you, sir, for such an inspiring and entertaining read!

RRCook
bulletproofdrafts.com

2 people found this helpful

S. Crouch

Pretty good telling of the Spartacus story

22 April 2012 - Published on Amazon.com

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Novels about Spartacus seem to have become popular again, probably because of the recent TV series. Spartacus the gladiator is one of the good ones but it probably falls just short of "The Parthian", another recent read. This book certainly has a more gritty Spartacus than the legendary Howard Fast novel but is let down by occasional weak dialogue.

Not a great deal is known about Spartacus as the Roman authors don't devote a lot of time to him, presumably because he was an embarrassment to Rome. Some of the Roman sources contradict each other too. It is generally thought that Spartacus must have served time in the Roman army because of his obvious tactical skill and the book opens with him returning from the army to his village in Thrace. Here he falls foul of the Thracian king and is sold into slavery as a gladiator along with his wife, the Dionysus priestess Ariadne who has married him to escape the attentions of the Thracian king. Eventually they arrive at the Lentulus Batiatus gladiator school in Capua which is a hot bed of factions and Spartacus rapidly becomes leader of one of the main groups. The other factions are the Gauls and Germans, the main Gallic group being led by Crixus, a thoroughly nasty piece of work who although he joins up with Spartacus for the break out from the gladiator school, is a constant source of trouble for the slave revolt. The breakout from the school is realistically portrayed and the book follows the revolt until the battle of Mutina. Obviously a second book is on the way.

The characterization is generally good with Spartacus a believable leader who does, however, have some inner demons. Fictional characters, such as the disinherited Roman Carbo, are also dealt with well. The author takes the view that a lot of the slaves were just in the rebellion for plunder and Crixus is one of these. This is certainly not the virtuous slave army portrayed in the 1960 Kirk Douglas film. The historical accuracy seems to be spot on with a lot of detail about Crassus and his political dealings with Pompey.

I'm giving this 4 stars only because some of the dialogue came across as pretty wooden, particularly in the romantic scenes but Spartacus the Gladiator is still a very good read and I look forward to the next book.

3 people found this helpful

Gustavo Castaner

Just the right balance between history and narrative. Absolutely compulsive reading!

13 August 2014 - Published on Amazon.com

Verified Purchase

Kudos to Ben Kane for an excellent book. I had just watched viewing "Spartacus: War of the Damned" and just needed to know more about the real history. Before moving to the history books I saw these books, noted the good reviews and decided to give Ben Kane a try. I stand humbled. I'm a historian by training and I must acknowledge that he has done an amazíng job meshing the scant historical references with an absolutely compulsive narrative. The historical details are simply excellent and the notes of the author really great. Spartacus comes to life in these pages and you can follow the story as it likely happened.
Carbo is a great character that allows Kane to view the roman side of the story. I was a great fan of the undefeated gaul portrayed brilliantly by Manu Bennett in the TV series, but I'm afraid Kane's Crixus is closer to the brutal truth. The character of Ariadne is also a major difference with the TV series, but it segways beautifully with the thracian origin of the hero and his prophetic calling.
Absolutely recommended. Next thing after finishing this review is downloading the next volume and most likely the rest of Kane's novels. By carefully treading between painstaking historical reconstruction and enticing narrative he has gained a reader.

2 people found this helpful

dan gill

Ben Kane's Spartacus, two book, series

3 August 2016 - Published on Amazon.com

Verified Purchase

I've always been fascinated by the story of Spartacus since I first saw the movie starring Kirk Douglas and have had it on my "to do list" for some time. I recently bought Ben Kane's two book series on Spartacus and have finished the first book and am totally engrossed with the second book of the series. Spartacus was an incredible human being and his story is accurately and vividly brought to life through Ben Kane's works. I very highly recommend this series to anyone who is interested in a great historical adventure that is hard to put down. I look forward to reading Ben Kane's other works as well.