Viggen Posted August 22, 2014 Report Share Posted August 22, 2014 The Roman Empire (Beginner's Guides) by Philip Matyszak Book Review by Alex Johnston Can a book rightly be considered “sprawling” if it is only two hundred pages long? Actually, not even quite two hundred pages if you strip out the back matter? Hmmm. The book ostensibly covers “just” the period of time when Rome was an empire. As the author conveniently elaborates in the Epilogue (saving my overworked brain from doing the math), Rome (from its founding to the fall of the last emperor of the west in 476 CE) lasted 2,206 years (and one month and eight days!), but only 507 years of that is what is generally referred to as the “Roman Empire.” No big deal, right? But don’t believe the author and his title. He’s fibbing. His book covers the whole damn 2,206 years (and one month and eight days). So here we have a book, part of a “Beginner’s Guides” series, in which, if you do the math, the author can more or less devote one page for every ten years of history.... ...read the full review of The Roman Empire (Beginner's Guides) by Philip Matyszak Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sonic Posted August 22, 2014 Report Share Posted August 22, 2014 "Somehow he manages to fit it all in. And by “it” I mean real commentary about and analysis of key episodes of Roman history." Yep, that's Maty. I hate him with a passion he can only imagine! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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