[joebuck]

"What is a fictional autobiography? Isn't that an oxymoron? Fiction is fiction, isn't it.?

Don't be so fast to judge. Historical fiction is often just a way to bring history to the masses. Much historical fiction is painstakingly researched and just puts history in a narritive format. It is one of my favorite genres. "Killer Angels" by Michael Shaara brings the battle of Gettyburg to life like no dry historical account ever could and is completely accurate. (depending on whether or not you subscribe to the Longstreet blew it version of the battle.) The Alan Eckert books on the taming of the american frontier read like an Indiana Jones movie but are historically accurate to the smallest detail. Myself, I am intrigued by this fictional autobiography of Alexander and plan on checking it out over the holidays.

[jalisco555]

Don't be so fast to judge. Historical fiction is often just a way to bring history to the masses.

Don't forget Colleen McCollough's "Masters of Rome" series on the fall of the Roman Republic. These magnificent books brought the period to life for me.

[Barb4Bush]

Don't waste your money. I saw it last night at a free screening. It was three hours of my life I wish I could get back. It it boring, badly acted and horribly directed and edited. Angelina Jolie gives the single worst performance I have seen since the last high school play I attended. The battle scenes are speeded up, foggy, jumpy and impossible to follow. Every actor has a different accent. One guy in the big mutiny scene had such a thick Scottish accent, I thought he escaped to the film from the "Braveheart" set. You know a movie is bad when they make Anthony Hopkins look like a lousy actor. People at the free screening were walking out, laughing and groaning when it just kept going on and on and on. The comments afterwards were hysterical. It wasn't just bad it was terrible.

[stands2reason]

Irving Stone ("The Agony and the Ecstasy" among others) has opened me up to a lot of history I never would have gotten into otherwise.