ROME: Eternal City

In the words of The Times. 'Rome's history is written in blood, and Addis, who has a vivid, pacey writing style, spares not the squeamish as he describes three millennia of violence from the first kings to Il Duce.' Snappy paragraphs are underpinned by serious reading in this history comprising of a series of vignettes from Rome's ancient foundation to the Second World War, via Gauls, ghettos and gladiators, and its 22 chapters bring to life in 22 scenes from its 2,500 year history. Each is a self-contained narrative whether it is the murder of Caesar, the near-destruction of the city by the Gauls in 387BC, the construction of the Colosseum and the fate of the gladiators, Bernini's creation of the Baroque masterpiece that is St Peter's Basilica, the brutal crushing of Republican dreams in 1849, the sinister degeneration of Mussolini's first state, or the magical, corrupt Rome of filmmaker Fellini's La Dolce Vita. From Chapter 17 Judgement, the Sack of Rome 1527: 'The Peasants' War became a massacre. The peasant leader Thomas Müntzer, a preacher and old admirer of Luther's, was tortured and killed...Bourbon too was preoccupied: his dreams of conquering France had failed. His promised bride, the emperor's sister, was now being married off to King Francois as part of the post-Pavia peace deal. Mustering his wounded dignity, he set off for Spain, hoping at least to be rewarded with the Duchy of Milan.' Personal, easy to read, 632 magnificent pages with colour and black and white photos.