Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
light hearted and irreverent look at the Roman Empire, 1 Jun 2006
Boris Johnson, well known Tory MP, columnist, journalist and editor increases his reputation as an engaging and entertaining writer with this light-hearted and enjoyable romp through Roman history. In turn Boris covers the emperor cult, the origin of the Empire, citizenship, the relationship with Greece, elite culture, economics, popular culture (illustrated by the universality of the disgusting sounding garum - fish sauce - eaten all over the Empire), religion, the army, currency, the games and the end of the whole shebang. Boris illustrates these by reference to his own travels and meetings with experts (including one who tried to make garum for himself) and his punchy, irreverant and entertaining style is extremely readable. His asides are wonderful and apt - comparing Latin poets moaning about the loss of the 'good old days' to 'the politicians and journalists of today's Britain who lambast Tesco for forcing down the prices pain to farmers and then whip round it in half an hour on Saturday when they do their weekly shopping', and his comparison of the Augustus emperor cult and the rise of Christianity is thought-provoking if nothing else. And the book is scattered with interesting and pleasing anecdotes - the very un-Romance word cerveza (Celtic for beer) is still used in Spain for the same liquid.
Perhaps the comparisons to the contemporary European Union are a bit overdone (and it's difficult to say where Boris himself stands on the EU issue) but as he points out himself it's essential to know where we come from if only to avoid the mistakes of the past. And some of the prints illustrating the beginning of each chapter are so dark as to be barely discernable. But Boris' enthusiasm for the ancient world is infectious and exhilarating, providing more than an effective counter-blast to the dismal utilitarian approach to education propounded by some of his political opponents.
Enjoy!!
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19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Lively and entertaining, but academically not quite tip-top, 9 April 2006
By A Customer
Johnson's inimitable style and panache pervade this book, which is a rumbustious survey of the Roman Empire, how it unified Europe and why the EU is failing to do so. Starting with the Teutoburg Forest disaster in AD 9, which is recreated with a dash of imagination but in a very plausible and engaging manner, Britain's favourite flop-haired politician covers an admirable range of material. The chapter on how later empires have used the imagery and vocabulary of Rome particularly deserves mention.The one flaw that this book has is an insufficient engagement with the process of "Romanisation", the way in which non-Romans "become Roman". Johnson accepts the process more or less at face value, providing the interesting example of a (fictional) Gaulish peasant who slowly assimilates the values and practices of Rome. Unfortunately, over at least the last ten years, the consensus that had formed around the idea of Romanisation has been exploded: there is now very little agreement over exactly how, if, and why it took place. Emphasis has been placed on resistance to Roman rule (which, to be fair, Johnson does discuss), on the continuance of native practices under a Roman guise, the idea of Creoleisation and a whole variety of other models. In short, the scholarship has become fragmented, and Johnson's book does not reflect that. Still, given that the usual state of public knowledge about the Roman Empire tends to reflect, at best, 19th century views, at least Johnson's engaging and entertaining book may contribute to dragging them into the 20th. It is not an academic book - there is no bibliography, no index - and so perhaps shouldn't be held to academic standards of work. It is a thought-provoking work, thoroughly enjoyable, and is certainly to be recommended!
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Boris pulls it off (so to speak), 26 Aug 2007
You don't need to be a Conservative to like this book and you certainly don't need to know anything about Roman history (it might even help if you don't). You'll have come across Boris Johnson's "Tim Nice But Dim" TV image but you will be pleasantly surprised in several ways.
The book is about the rise of the Roman Empire, the way the Romans ran their affairs (a subject on which Boris is, of course, an expert!) and most specifically what messages it holds for us in the 21st century. I am no Roman scholar but I was impressed by the breadth and depth of his knowledge and the extent to which he had thought about it - you get the sense this book has been gestating for at least 20 years.
Don't be put off by this praise for his research. You will also know he has been the editor of `The Spectator' and you do not get there by being the upper class twit he has played in front of the cameras. Journalism has allowed him to develop a style of writing that talks directly to you as the reader, never patronising, using different ways to get his message over (humour, analogies, "imagine you were there", and so on). This makes the text very, very readable.
Where the book could turn off some readers is with the message for us today - does the success of the Roman Empire suggest a federal Europe is a good idea, for example? Some other reviewers have said you end up not really knowing where Johnson stands but I don't think that's the point. He lays out his interpretation of history, starts the reader on the path of thinking about the implications and then leaves us to make our own minds up. If there were dogmatic conclusions to the different chapters I think it would be a much weaker book, that was rightly seen as a historical excuse for a political rant.
So, this is not a textbook but if you enjoy history or politics and want an entertaining and thought-provoking read, I thoroughly recommend this to you, especially as the price of a used copy is now £2. Don't you pay that for your lunchtime sandwich???
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