The novel "Give me back my legions" by Harry Turtledove is disappointing. The author concentrates on the psychology of the two main characters Varus and Arminius, which starts to repeat after a while. Besides this the author forgets a lot of other important things. For example I would have liked to see how Arminius managed to bring together the different Germanic tribes to common action. From a historical or novellist point of view the book is less than moderate. The novel ends with emperor Augustus reducing his plans to conquer Germany, but the fate of Arminius (murdered) and his wife and child (captured) is not part of the novel. Why? This is an integral part of this part of history! Just another disappointment.
What was more interesting is the description how different cultures cannot cope with each other and fall into systematic misunderstandings on each other without escape. This could teach us something. Funny was Varus' statement that Germans and Jews are the most stubborn peoples in the Roman empire.
