Sam Willis (1) (1977–)

Comprehensive, well-researched, well written, my only observation is that he takes a long time to make some points, and they sometimes feel done to death. Will read more by Mr Willis, but do feel it could have been slightly much "punchy" in style.

I'm only part-way through this, but enthusiasm made me review before finishing. It achieves the rare feat of being highly technical, crystal clear, and thoroughly readable, all at the same time.
If I have a quibble, it's that I would have liked more maps and contemporary illustrations - but that's just being greedy and I understand the economics of publishing, alas.

The Romans were builders, civil engineers, and pioneers of an advanced society. Roman society was rigidly hierarchical. Everything a Roman did had a pecking order. A Roman’s social class decided what they wore, what they ate, who they married, and the amount of power and influence they had. The Romans were polytheistic which means they worshipped many deities. Roman mythology included beliefs in gods such as Jupiter, Juno, Apollo, Mars, and Minerva. However, everything changed when show more Constantine converted Rome to Christianity. In this book the authors included information on Roman tattoos, benches, walls, inkwells, weaving, feet, and how they walked. I was intrigued by how the way a Roman walked. For example if a woman walked with too much confidence and extravagance she was to be avoided because this meant she was an adulteress. Another thing I found interesting was the Roman’s knowledge of poison. Women poisoned men to achieve political success for their husbands. This book was extremely informative on how the Romans lived.

This book was very intriguing. I chose to do a library thing on it because I was in need of a nonfiction book. Plus, I already had it in my house. It was very informational, and it taught me the unexpected parts of how the Romans lived. I was surprised and intrigued. I would rate this book a ⅘. I was fascinated 80% of the time. I learned many things about how the Romans lived. But, I was more captivated by the unusual things. Including the number seven, shopping, fattening, and walking. I would recommend this book as a resource for people doing projects on Rome. I would also recommend this book to people who love learning about other cultures. show less

A good history inspired by Turner's 1839 painting of the H.M.S. Temeraire being towed to the break up yard by a steam tug. The history covers the years from 1759 (The Seven Year's War) till 1815 (The Battle of Trafalgar). Reads like a novel in many places, because Wiliis doesn't let history get in the way of a good story.