A very moving, intimate account of the Apostate's eight years in power, from his appointment as Caesar in AD 357 to his death in battle in AD 363. While other biographers have focused on the religious conflict or Julian's economic reforms, Krawczuk focuses on Julian the man. Drawing on the emperor's own writings—letters, essays, edicts, speeches, hymns—as well as those of men who knew him personally, Krawczuk gives us a sense of who Julian was: a scholar, a bookworm, an idealist animated by the Stoic notions of the virtuous life, a wit, an approachable, simple man uninterested in pomp or display, and above all, a devoted, loving friend of many devoted, loving friends.

Aleksander Krawczuk did it again: with his special approach to the topic and his new readings of the sources, he gave us a beautiful work of literature which will leave you delighted to have met Julian and sad that he died so young, just when all seemed to be going so well.