The first Roman emperor's account of his own accomplishments, first copied in manuscript in the 16th century and first definitively published in the later 19th, is fraught with difficulties and complexities that Ridley says can best be addressed with historiography untainted by postmodernism or political correctness. Volumes have been written about most aspects of the text, and he assembles the arguments and insights into a more coherent and comprehensive study than he has seen before. Distributed by the David Brown Book Company. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)