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ccallan's review against another edition
2.0
DNF. Might have made a decent magazine article. Instead stretched out with meandering discussion of obvious points, interspersed with nonsequiters and strained examples. Not for me
lukaron's review against another edition
5.0
Although at the time of reading, this book is 7 years old - the author did very well in drawing out the comparisons and differences between the United States and the Roman Empire. Very informative and entertaining read. Highlights some of the things we inherited for better or worse from the last great civilization on this planet.
loveaiden's review against another edition
4.0
murphy's concept is sometimes suffocated primarily by the repetitive use of american polemics he seems unable to waltz without but besides that good job nerd
_pickle_'s review against another edition
2.0
We? We aren't Rome, but neither are they. Some similarities, but that's it.
justaguy's review against another edition
2.0
I abandoned this book... it felt like an endless river of back and forth. It seems like there’s no aim or something that keeps me reading.
annahimmelrich's review against another edition
5.0
It was terrible. Sorry, Jack.
Just kidding, I actually really enjoyed it.
Just kidding, I actually really enjoyed it.
ladilira's review against another edition
3.0
I picked this up from my workplace library and decided to give it a whirl. I have always been fascinated by Roman history.
Overall, the book was short enough to be engaging, but lacked historical clarity regarding essential characters (both Roman and US) and Latin phrasing. Murphy writes in a way that assumes the reader already has a strong Roman history background. Additionally, I found the Latin catch phrases annoying only because I had to research what they were actually saying.
I felt this could have been organized more efficiently and with more clarity, as it seemed to jump around and got a bit flowery with imagery at times. Murphy’s writing is stimulating enough to push through the lack of historical explanation, but much will be lost on the common reader. That being said, there were several points in the book that I found illuminating.
Overall, the book was short enough to be engaging, but lacked historical clarity regarding essential characters (both Roman and US) and Latin phrasing. Murphy writes in a way that assumes the reader already has a strong Roman history background. Additionally, I found the Latin catch phrases annoying only because I had to research what they were actually saying.
I felt this could have been organized more efficiently and with more clarity, as it seemed to jump around and got a bit flowery with imagery at times. Murphy’s writing is stimulating enough to push through the lack of historical explanation, but much will be lost on the common reader. That being said, there were several points in the book that I found illuminating.
psteve's review against another edition
4.0
Good readable concise yet informative presentation of ways that the US today is like and not like the Rome of yesterday and whether or not it matters. The big question, at the end, is did Rome really fall? After the end of the empire, its language religion, language, and many of its ways were still ascendant and still are today.
inquiry_from_an_anti_library's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
fast-paced
5.0
Rome and the U.S. may not be from the same era, but the way Murphy transitions from facts and discussions makes it seem that both empire's are right next to each other. Really good in terms of explaining the historical significant of events but not could have explained more on why they occurred. At times the author overly imposes similarities that may not be complete there, for example in terms of privatization. The author mentions that public and private interest diverge, which is not really the case. The private companies that do the job instructed by the government entities do the job better than the government, but the actual interest are aligned for the government needs the job done and someone can do it better. The only way the private companies can work if they do as they are told by those who are supposedly in the public interest. Which means that the private interest is to serve the public interest. Private companies also have much more competition than the government, so private companies are forced to do a better job than others in the same industry. Should the private companies go over the funding from the government, the government can just obtain another contractor. If the contracts usually become corrupted, it is usually due to those making the contract, which is the government. This is an incredible book about the strengths and weakness of Rome and the U.S., and how we can potentially change the fate of the latter.
ma1's review against another edition
4.0
Good book. The Tiber and the Potomac, a Modern Scholar audiobook by Thomas Madden makes similar points, and does it better.