In his extensive series featuring the detecting feats of Decius Caecilius Metellus the younger, set in the ancient Roman Empire, Roberts achieves a very believable modern feeling with his well-researched description of the stories' background. This seventh episode, however, combines a familiar view of the demands office-seeking makes on a candidate with a situation that is impossibly bizarre to us today. An entire city, versed in literature, music, and the other arts, ruled democratically, for its time, is thrown into panic by an enraged man's curse...
Decius Caecilius Metellus is happy. The weather is beautiful and he is standing for office (literally; standing, in the Roman Forum soliciting votes) with a sure chance of winning. And Caesar's ongoing dreary war is far off in Gaul. Decius is confident that another war looming over Rome, instigated by one Crassus against the Parthians (for no reason but possible worldly gain), will be voted down in the Senate. But the vote does not stop Crassus. On the day he and his troops set out from Rome, the Tribune Ateius Capitus, leader of the opposition, shrieks an ancient and terrible curse over the huge crowd assembled -- a curse that frightens not only the man in the street but the highest Romans. When Ateius is murdered soon after, Decius, solver of past mysteries, has the ugly task of finding the killer. Fascinating details of Rome's mixed attitudes about the power of magic and the practice of rational politics illuminate this latest of Roberts's strong historical mysteries.
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Customer Reviews
Rated 4 starsReally more like 4+
Very enjoyable! The content of the book is great! Nice choices of selections and I really enjoy the short intros included with the songs. The CD is quite well done--clear, beautiful recordings. I only wish they had been able to record ALL the songs in the book! So why can't I give the book a 5? Well, I agree with a previous reviewer concerning the keys of some of the selections being to low if you are using them with...
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Rated 5 starsFantastic collection
This book is worth it for the CD alone, which has beautifully sung versions of 23 of the songs from the book. It's not just for children- our whole family loves the CD! Unlike most kids' collections, this one doesn't have candied-down sugary kids' versions of the songs- it's real folk singers. The book itself has all the words, sheet music, and brief historical blurbs on all the songs, which are very interesting to read as...
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Rated 5 starsA musical Taste of American Culture!!!
We Loved this book, Not only because it includes each song's sheet music and a brief history of the origin of the song but the C.D. is amazing!!! The singers and musicians are superb. it features authentic mandolin, banjo and fiddle playing and is not sung in a patronizing mannor you hear on so many kid's C.D.s Our family from 2 to 46 love it and sing the songs over and over. High quality item for sure!
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Rated 5 starsBest Folk Song Book I've Seen & The story behind the songs
This is the best collection of popular folk songs I have seen. You've always heard these songs, but at least I never knew all the words. I found this treasure in a stack of Girl Scout song books and I love the fact that it has a short paragraph about the history of each song. Great for sing alongs. The CD doesn't have all the songs that are in the book, but it has a good selection and they are sung in a catchy and upbeat way...
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