Description:
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
Best Books of 2023: New Yorker, The Economist, Smithsonian
Most Anticipated Books of Fall: Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, TODAY, Literary Hub, and Publishers Weekly
"A vivid way to re-examine what we know, and don't, about life at the top.... Emperor of Rome is a masterly group portrait, an invitation to think skeptically but not contemptuously of a familiar civilization." --Kyle Harper, Wall Street Journal
A sweeping account of the social and political world of the Roman emperors by "the world's most famous classicist" (Guardian).
Brief description: Mary Beard is the author of the best-selling The Fires of Vesuvius and the National Book Critics Circle Award-nominated Confronting the Classics and SPQR. A popular blogger and television personality, Beard is a regular contributor to the New York Review of Books. She lives in England.
Review Quotes: If social media is to be believed, men can't stop thinking about the Roman Empire, particularly its 'alpha male' elements. Anyone similarly obsessed would do well to pick up a copy of 'Emperor of Rome, ' an erudite and entertaining new book by the redoubtable classics scholar and feminist Mary Beard... Beard, a consummate storyteller, finds 'ancient gossip' understandably hard to resist. Such stories also free her up to pursue her subject thematically instead chronologically, pointing not just to differences among the emperors but also similarities.... As a writer, Beard is so appealing and approachable that even the recalcitrant reader who previously gave not a single thought to the Roman Empire will warm to her subject... Beard leads by example, taking care to tell us what we can and cannot know -- a kind of counterprogramming to the distortions of one-man rule.--Jennifer Szalai "New York Times"