Customer Reviews
highly informative and a super read. - By: D. Sweeney, 03 Oct 2008 
After reading Robert Harris's novel Pompeii I was keen on gaining more knowledge about both the people & the town that was overcome by the eruption of Vesuvius , so this books publication allowed me that opportunity.
The amount of information conveyed is awesome & the life of the various citizen's of Pompeii is truly bought to life , the book is writtenin a scholarly way as befits a Cambridge Don butin no way does this getin the way , she paint's a fantastic picture of the place & it's culture , organisation & politics as well as spicing thing's up by many reference's to the sexual liberation of the era.
A very well written book & did everything I asked of it.
Changing views of Pompeii - By: I. G. Lennox, 22 Sep 2008 
There has always been, since the first discovery, conflict over the meaning of the archeological findings. Some texts are more rigid than others, for example the splendidly illustrated 'Complete Pompeii' by Berry. This new volume has a more laid back approach & all, or at least most, of ones long set assumptions are questioned. So, this is not a guide to carry round the site but a superb contemplation of how lifein the town might have been, Like the "Triumph', Prof. Beard shakes the established ideas & stimulates. I found it hard to put down.
Time Travel back to 79AD - By: P. Mullan, 22 Sep 2008 Professor Beard tells the tale of ancient Pompeiiin a highly readable & authoritative way. Drawing from the work of historians & archaeologists present & past she transports the reader back to Pompeii's last days. Along the way assumptions are challenged about the number of brothels, or the date of the volcanic explosion which condemned the town into a memory. Wheel ruts & the rules of the road come alive. I suspect that a visit to Pompeii will never be the same again.
