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A review by boomerlusink
SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome by Mary Beard
5.0
Given that I DNF'd 3 out of the past 4 nonfiction books I read (with those four attempts spread over 4 years), and even the one I finished I didn't enjoy really at all- this was an easy 5 stars for me.
Readable, insightful, informative, engaging- Beard is my new favorite nonfiction author (though again, that may not be saying much.) Much of the book is structured in a way where bits of history are introduced in the way that Roman historians thought of them, and then Beard goes back through those bits and clarifies what is probably myth, propaganda, misinformation, or just wrong. So in a sense, you get two chances to get a clearer picture of what is going on, which really helped me retain the info.
What I found made a great book excellent was Beard's comments at the end of the book, where she encourages modern folks to refrain from taking lessons straight from the Romans or the Roman world, but rather take lessons by engaging with the Romans and what we know of them. Really smart stuff, and when coupled with the last pages being about the peoples of the Roman provinces from Judea to Roman Britain, and about how these people were able to successfully hold two cultures and backgrounds in their hearts and heads at the same time. To me, and this could be Beard's intention or no, but I recognized perhaps an idealized future for the western world in which incredibly diverse countries like the United States are full of citizens who are concretely and unambiguously American AND something else.
Anyways, a really great book. Hopefully I can keep nonfiction in my roster going into the future.
Readable, insightful, informative, engaging- Beard is my new favorite nonfiction author (though again, that may not be saying much.) Much of the book is structured in a way where bits of history are introduced in the way that Roman historians thought of them, and then Beard goes back through those bits and clarifies what is probably myth, propaganda, misinformation, or just wrong. So in a sense, you get two chances to get a clearer picture of what is going on, which really helped me retain the info.
What I found made a great book excellent was Beard's comments at the end of the book, where she encourages modern folks to refrain from taking lessons straight from the Romans or the Roman world, but rather take lessons by engaging with the Romans and what we know of them. Really smart stuff, and when coupled with the last pages being about the peoples of the Roman provinces from Judea to Roman Britain, and about how these people were able to successfully hold two cultures and backgrounds in their hearts and heads at the same time. To me, and this could be Beard's intention or no, but I recognized perhaps an idealized future for the western world in which incredibly diverse countries like the United States are full of citizens who are concretely and unambiguously American AND something else.
Anyways, a really great book. Hopefully I can keep nonfiction in my roster going into the future.