Fast's historical novels are always parables in which historical meaning is invoked by dramatizing moments in history which have special significance, recurring in a spiral which leads to some teleological or transcendent goal.

The conflict of opposing forces and synthesis pointing to the future in Spartacus shows how an historical writer may unite narrative technique with historical theme, using action to create meaning. Character is the result of confrontation and choice, as individuals are moved to action which changes or forwards history, illustrating the innate goodness and capacity for positive change fundamental to the human personality or, on the other hand, the capacity of repressive institutions to resist change and the future. In Fast, meaning is always the result of observable action, never simply passive subjectivity of observation, as Fast uses his talent for the story, for dramatic narrative, as a means of creating development.

The plotting of...