A Review By Keith Smith

Suetonius’ “The Twelve Caesars” became a classic of classical times: a virtuoso literary portrait gallery, remarkable not only for its frank dissections of Rome’s great emperors, but also because the twelve men were the embodiment – both good and bad – of Rome’s greatest century. In view of the country’s rise to superpower status, the twentieth century has been called ‘the American Century’, and award-winning biographer Nigel Hamilton now gives us the lives of the twelve men who presided over America’s imperial fortunes – the good, the bad and the not so good. Not since the days of the Roman emperors has there been such a succession of rulers holding the fate of the world in their hands.

How did these American Caesars reach the White House? What were the challenges they faced when they got there and how did they meet them? And who were these men in their private lives? Nigel Hamilton’s short, candid, critical portraits of the presidents from Franklin D. Roosevelt to George W. Bush are compulsively readable.

Packed with unforgettable characters as well as stories, lessons and revelations, “American Caears” is a terrific read. I have so far read just over half of the essays - I started with a particular hero JFK, and am working my way forward, and I must say the research and writing seem to me exemplary. I have learned an awful lot, some of it surprising, and it is especially interesting to see the presidents put in the context of following on from each other. How much did they learn from their predecessors’ mistakes? How differently was the White House run? How much real power did they each accrue? Wonderful, frightening and awe-inspiring at the same time, I strongly recommend ‘American Caesars’.