We have entered the season of the campaign book, when presidential hopefuls put their life stories between two covers and peddle them as narratives explaining why they are best-suited to steer the country. Sen. Bernie Sanders and former San Antonio mayor Julián Castro put their books out late last year before putting their hats in the ring. Declared candidates Sen. Kamala Harris and South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg recently published their own political biographies, as did would-be candidate Howard Schultz, the former Starbucks CEO. For his part, Donald Trump published his defining memoir, “The Art of the Deal,” years before he ran for office.
But no matter how attractive the jacket or how extensive the publicity tour, these modern-day efforts won't likely top the first and most effective campaign book ever published: Julius Caesar's “The Gallic Wars.” His was a campaign book in two senses: It recounted his achievements on the field of battle but also vividly displayed his talents as a leader to the people of Rome. No politician in history has ever sold himself as well as Caesar did in its pages.
Caesar wrote the book to advertise his victories in Gaul (roughly, France and Belgium) and to lay the groundwork to fulfill his vast political ambition at home. Caesar covered the seven years from 58 to 52 B.C.; one of his commanders continued the story through 50 B.C. Though the book was eventually published as a whole, most of it was likely first delivered as annual dispatches from the front to be read aloud to eager audiences. The tale took the place of the dry commentaries traditionally sent to the Roman Senate by commanders in the field, reinventing what military storytelling could be and bringing the Roman public into the heart of the battle.
What lessons does this masterwork offer to the politicians now hastily composing their own big books as their campaign buses amble from town to town in Iowa and New Hampshire?
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