This was one of the most enjoyable books I've read this year. It was written in 1935 and I had no expectations of reading a light, humorous and thoroughly modern-sounding re-telling of the Julius Caesar story. The hero is Manlius Scribus, ace reporter for the Roman tabloid, The Evening Tiber, and once he hooks up with Smithicus, a regular Roman Jeeves, the story is off and running. All of the people you'd expect to meet are here: Julius himself, Cleopatra, Mark Anthony, Brutus, but the real fun is in the subplots, with lots of classic stereotypical characters. There's plenty of action and we find out that what we know of history from Suetonius and Shakespeare is all wrong. The real story is a lot more fun -- and delicious.

I'm wondering if the writers for HBO's ROME series read this book. It's doubtful because it's been out of print since its 1935 publication and is extremely hard to find. But the quirkiness of the HBO series was anticipated 70 years ago by Wallace Irwin and in grand style.

Read Richard A. Lupoff's concise introduction to learn more about the author, then jump into the book. You won't regret it.