pretty much just skimmed through this book

I read this for school and it was really interesting!! I hope to visit Pompeii one day (:

I have been looking for such a well researched nonfiction book about Pompeii for a long time. And here it is.
The book talks about the ancient city of Pompeii, how and what was found in the ruins of the city after the eruption of Vesuvius. How the Pompeiins lived, what they ate, how they did their trades and how they spent their leisure time, you will find it all in this book. I throughly enjoyed each and every chapter of this book. The only thing that made me take away a star is because of repitions.

Anyone who enjoys the ancient city accounts must read this one. Can't wait to read the other books by the author.

Mary Beard’s incomparable voice shines through even the most densely academic accounts of the Roman Empire. This is as true of her TV specials as it is of her public scholarship. She has a remarkable gift for bringing common sense to stories and studies of the Classical Mediterranean.

Here, in her book on Pompeii, she gives us something like a “vertical slice” of life in Pompeii between the earthquake of 62CE and the calamitous eruption of 79CE. Each chapter examines a different facet of everyday life, and as is Beard’s way, she endeavors to find the traces of the common people amidst the ruins and refuse. I’m not a Classics scholar, so I couldn’t begin to judge how accurate her scholarship is, but as a scholar in another field of the Humanities, I’m persuaded.

More significantly, Beard writes with humility, wryness, and compelling expertise. She’s an excellent storyteller. At every turn, she makes it clear how the people of Pompeii were both *more* and *less* like us moderns than we assume. In her account, Pompeii is simultaneously emblematic of other cities of the Roman world and at the same time it is utterly unique.

A few chapters/subjects are dryer than others, but her constant skepticism and straight-talk makes even the driest parts (of which there are admittedly few) fun to read.

This is a good, accessible book about Pompeii. It’s a good source of fun facts and I like Mary Beard’s writing style. I wish it skimmed less and dove more into certain topics, but I still learned things I didn’t know. Not something to cite, but good for people learning about Pompeii for fun.