I read an article about Stephen Crane, who led an interesting life and died at the age of 28.  So then in the last few days I read "The Red Badge of Courage," which is a classic.   It's set  in the Civil War, and is basically the thoughts and actions of a lowly Union private for a few days during a battle.  The book was considered revolutionary at the time, since most war novels dealt with the big issues, and this one dealt with the inner thoughts of an individual soldier.  

 

Before that, I read "Caesar: Life of a Colossus," by Adrian Goldsworthy.   Julius Caesar is remembered as a general, but really, he was a politician.   In Rome, the politicians led the armies in the field.  The Roman republic was set up to encourage great men to do great things, but if a man became too great and too popular, the inevitable jealousy followed and his rivals would attempt to bring him down.  Which is what happened with Caesar. 

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