Home
  • Home
  • Latest Issue
  • Past Issues
  • Authors & Artists
  • Articles
  • Reviews
  • News
  • Forums
  • Search

Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Ancient Rome

  • View
  • Rearrange

Digital version – browse, print or download

Can't see the preview?
Click here!

How to print the digital edition of Books for Keeps: click on this PDF file link - click on the printer icon in the top right of the screen to print.

BfK Newsletter

Receive the latest news & reviews direct to your inbox!

BfK No. 145 - March 2004

Cover Story
This issue's cover illustration is from Satoshi Kitamura's Once Upon an Ordinary School Day. Satoshi Kitamura is interviewed by Martin Salisbury. Thanks to Andersen Press for their help with this March cover.

  • PDFPDF
  • Printer-friendly versionPrinter-friendly version
  • Send to friendSend to friend

Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Ancient Rome

Mike Corbishley
(British Museum Press)
160pp, NON FICTION, 978-0714130217, RRP £15.99, Hardcover
10-14 Middle/Secondary
Buy "The British Museum Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Ancient Rome (British Museum Illustrated Encyclopedias and Atlas)" on Amazon

The opening pages of this title don't grab your attention. There are maps, notes about dates, and suggestions on thematic trails that might be used as an alternative to the alphabetical way through the book. But once these necessary preliminaries are over, there is plenty for the young enthusiast to enjoy. This isn't an introduction to Roman life. Nor, at 160 pages, is it attempting to be comprehensive. It is cleverly pitched for readers who have an interest in Roman life and some historical awareness and are keen to broaden their knowledge. Corbishley's chosen subjects are a good mix of social and political history with biographies of important figures. He is lucid and lively, achieves a good balance of general information and interesting detail, and is aware where specialist terms need more explanation. He is careful, too, to keep the reader aware of change and variation in Roman history. The entries are cross-referenced by the highlighting of subjects that have their own entries. The text is supported, too, by well chosen and captioned illustrations, many of them colour photographs taken by the British Museum or Corbishley himself, sometimes of remains and artefacts, sometimes of reconstructions and re-enactments, so that the reader is presented with a variety of visual evidence. The high quality of these reproductions may explain the relatively high price of the book.

Reviewer: 
Clive Barnes
3
  • About us
  • Contact us
  • Help/FAQ
  • My Account