If you haven’t heard it already, tune in to Tom Ashbrook’s conversation with Adrian Goldsworthy on NPR’s On Point.

From the On Point website: “Hail, Caesar!” they still cry in the movies as once they saluted in the heart of ancient Rome and on battlefields from Gaul to Syria.

Julius Caesar — general, consul, dictator — is one of the most magnetic and controversial figures in all of history. Few have matched his power, his military and political genius, his glory – and his infamy. He raised an empire, and destroyed a democratic republic. Many look for lessons in his story today.

British historian Adrian Goldsworthy is out with an acclaimed new biography of the man proclaimed a god in the Roman Senate, and killed in the Roman Senate.

Adam Kirsch of The New York Sun calls Caesar: Life of a Colossus, “one of the most fascinating biographies you will come across this year.”

Read a pdf excerpt from the book.