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Pompeii

The Life of a Roman Town

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Pompeii

By: Mary Beard
Narrated by: Phyllida Nash
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Winner of the Wolfson History Prize 2008.

The ruins of Pompeii, buried by an explosion of Vesuvius in 79 CE, offer the best evidence we have of everyday life in the Roman empire. This remarkable book rises to the challenge of making sense of those remains, as well as exploding many myths: the very date of the eruption, probably a few months later than usually thought, or the hygiene of the baths that must have been hotbeds of germs, or the legendary number of brothels, most likely only one, or the massive death count, maybe less than 10 per cent of the population.

An extraordinary and involving portrait of an ancient town, its life and its continuing rediscovery, by Britain's favourite classicist.

©2010 Mary Beard (P)2010 Hachette Audio UK Ancient Archaeology Europe Mythology
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Critic reviews

"The world's most controversial classicist debunks our movie-style myths about the Roman town with meticulous scholarship and propulsive energy." (Laura Silverman, Daily Mail)
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Mary Beard is by far my favourite historian. Knowledgeable, accessible and inciteful in equal measure. A great read

Great read

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The only thing to improve this would be Mary Beard reading it. The lives of the ordinary people of Pompeii are brought to life through research and excavation.

Real and normal people

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Mary Beard is fabulous. I’ve read and watched many different topics of books and tv shows with her. This has been my favourite so far. So much detail, she really paints a picture of daily life in Pompeii. Highly recommended.

Fantastic!

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I have this book by Mary Beard and am so pleased it is even more enjoyable on audio.
Having been there it's made me wish to return with Mary as the guide..... She makes it real even though there are still many puzzles re roman life.
I wish Mary had read her own book, I always find Ms Nash's overemphasis and preciceness, rather jarring.

In put down able....

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Loved this book it was so informative and the narrator was brilliant. I would deffinatley recommend for anyone interested in Pompeii

Loved it

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