I wanted to read a book to learn more about Rome and appreciate its empire, but Beard has a negative tone constantly jabbing the Roman leaders and historians. She has so many negative qualifiers I couldn’t figure out if she even likes Rome. Couldn’t finish it.

The only good thing about this book is the pictures, the rest is Mary’s opinions.

I like it

Count put this book down. It wasn’t just a history of Rome but of World History. The author helps us realize how much of an impact Rome has on how we live today!

Disjointed, mind numbing, politically correc. I only read the sample, mercifully

I don't usually read non-fiction, but I picked this book after sifting through a slew of other titles. I appreciated her style of meandering into the pre-history of Rome and through to the beginning of the Christian Era and the rise of Constantinople. Her writing is almost conversational-very accessible. She questions previous assumptions about the Roman Empire & delves into experiences beyond the wealthy classes (palace intrigue) to explore the experiences of slaves, women, the conquered, etc.. Starting this before/during my visit to Rome allowed the magnificent architecture, art, and museum visits to be enlivened by what I was reading in the book.

At least two chapters end in mid sentence - very irritating but that is on Itunes not the author. Overall an interesting read but it does jump around topically and chronologically though the author is clear about that she intends that.

I always wanted to learn about Rome's beginnings. But the historical guesswork and the research confusion became too much. I gave up about midway. Ed Kelley

This book has received excellent reviews by The Economist, NYT and others; in my case I recommend you download a sample before purchasing. I found SPQR extremely boring, the author wanders around without a clear and compelling storyline; I frequently found myself looking topics up in wikipedia and others to actually understand the ancient history of Rome.