sammichaan's review against another edition

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4.0

Incredibly interesting and informative with a sprinkle of laugh-out-loud moments. Southon does a fantastic job of showing parallels between modern society and the ancient Romans, while still thoroughly explaining the most gruesome aspects of their culture and shattering any romanticism we may have of it. Fantastic read for anyone interested in history and/or murder.

carolinate's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark funny informative medium-paced

3.75

teatimewithliam's review against another edition

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dark funny informative reflective fast-paced

5.0

I've found my new favourite historian.

Emma Southon is not only an expert on all things Roman but brings the era to life with a wry dark humour that had me laughing out loud (in public places embarassingly). 

I've already preordered her other books due out this year, fabulous. 

nattt_chanel's review against another edition

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informative medium-paced

5.0

sofip's review against another edition

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funny informative lighthearted reflective fast-paced

5.0

worlds_to_conquer's review against another edition

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dark funny informative slow-paced

3.75

cwbaker24's review against another edition

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dark funny reflective sad slow-paced

3.0

Surprisingly humorous, but also sad, and at times horrific.

reader98's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny informative sad tense fast-paced

3.0

sometimes a bit macabre in its lightheartedness, like
"because I am a dedicated researcher, I watched several videos of people being flogged in India and Indonesia and it takes more blows than you’d expect to draw blood." 

thats a bit weird and tone deaf, i think

sorryformon's review against another edition

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funny informative lighthearted reflective medium-paced

4.5

This book is perfect for anyone wanting to learn more about the Roman Empire but does not like history books. It has a lot of pop references that make it easy to understand. 

kallmekirby's review against another edition

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5.0

I don't typically rate non fiction but if you're at ALL interested in ancient Rome or even just a little curious about it then I cannot recommend this enough. I learned so much and I was surprised at Southon's ability to make the book both informative and entertaining. She even managed to insert humor - I never thought I could laugh at a book about Classics.