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ratings: ★★★★★ (5/5)
Genre: Drama / Tragedy / Historical Play

Book Review:
''Julius Caesar'' is Shakespeare's great political thriller. It's a play about power, ambition, and the terrible consequences of political violence. You know the story: a group of conspirators, led by the noble Brutus, assassinate Caesar to save the Roman Republic. But then everything goes wrong. Mark Antony's speech at Caesar's funeral is one of the most brilliant pieces of rhetoric ever written—you can watch it sway the crowd from support of the conspirators to a mob bent on revenge. The play's real genius, though, is its characters. Brutus is the ''noblest Roman of them all,'' a man of principle caught in an impossible situation. Cassius is a master manipulator with a ''lean and hungry look.'' And Caesar, even in death, dominates the play. It's a fast-paced, gripping drama that asks timeless questions: When is it right to rebel? Can a good end justify a violent means? What happens to the people who commit such acts? This Cambridge edition is excellent, with helpful notes and scholarly context. A must-read.