Matthew Kneale. (2018). Rome: A History in Seven Sackings. Simon & Schuster.

Matthew Kneale. 2018. Rome: A History in Seven Sackings. Simon & Schuster.

Matthew Kneale, Rome: A History in Seven Sackings. Simon & Schuster, 2018.

Matthew Kneale. Rome: A History in Seven Sackings. Simon & Schuster, 2018.

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   • bioText: Matthew Kneale was born in London in 1960, the son and grandson of writers. He studied modern history at Magdalen College, Oxford. He has written five novels, including English Passengers, which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and won the Whitbread Book of the Year Award, and two nonfiction books. For the last fifteen years he has lived in Rome with his wife and two children. Visit him at MatthewKneale.net.
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Rome

fullDescription

"This magnificent love letter to Rome" (Stephen Greenblatt) tells the story of the Eternal City through pivotal moments that defined its history—from the early Roman Republic through the Renaissance and the Reformation to the German occupation in World War Two—"an erudite history that reads like a page-turner" (Maria Semple).
Rome, the Eternal City. It is a hugely popular tourist destination with a rich history, famed for such sites as the Colosseum, the Forum, the Pantheon, St. Peter's, and the Vatican. In no other city is history as present as it is in Rome. Today visitors can stand on bridges that Julius Caesar and Cicero crossed; walk around temples in the footsteps of emperors; visit churches from the earliest days of Christianity.

This is all the more remarkable considering what the city has endured over the centuries. It has been ravaged by fires, floods, earthquakes, and—most of all—by roving armies. These have invaded repeatedly, from ancient times to as recently as 1943. Many times Romans have shrugged off catastrophe and remade their city anew.

"Matthew Kneale [is] one step ahead of most other Roman chroniclers" (The New York Times Book Review). He paints portraits of the city before seven pivotal assaults, describing what it looked like, felt like, smelled like and how Romans, both rich and poor, lived their everyday lives. He shows how the attacks transformed Rome—sometimes for the better. With drama and humor he brings to life the city of Augustus, of Michelangelo and Bernini, of Garibaldi and Mussolini, and of popes both saintly and very worldly. Rome is "exciting...gripping...a slow roller-coaster ride through the fortunes of a place deeply entangled in its past" (The Wall Street Journal).

reviews

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     December 1, 2017
     

     Whitbread Book of the Year Award-winning novelist Kneale, who studied modern history at Oxford and now lives in Rome, takes a distinctive approach to the city's history: he highlights the invasions that have shaped the city from ancient times until 1943. "A masterpiece of pacing and suspense" (London Sunday Times).

     Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

2. • premium: True
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     March 19, 2018
     Kneale (Passengers) stumbles in his attempt to plumb the mystique of the Eternal City in this panoramic and deeply researched account of Roman history, told through the city’s seven sackings at the hands of Gauls, Goths, Nazis, and other barbarian hordes. Early in the process of writing, Kneale reveals, he envisioned each chapter as “a kind of vast postcard from Rome describing what it looked like, felt like, and smelt like” at a given moment in time. Unfortunately, this authorial intent has not translated well: rather than an evocative travelogue or history, the book is more a series of disconnected episodes of political intrigue and bloodshed. Kneale’s love for the city in all its incarnations, past and present, is clear, but his habit of beginning each chapter with a present-day anecdote about a deserted castle or sleepy Calabrian town that is then revealed as the site of a major historical event quickly becomes repetitive. Later material on the rise of Italian nationalism in the mid-19th century and the occupation of Rome by the Nazis is persuasively presented, with a sense of narrative urgency that earlier sections lack. Yet the crucial element missing throughout is a sense of the sheer presence of the city, whether as an imperial capital, ransacked ruin, or sacred site. Despite Kneale’s best efforts, Rome still holds its secrets close. Agent: George Lucas, InkWell Management.

3. • premium: True
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     March 15, 2018
     A sprawling city with an ancient history, Rome defies a neat narrative of its past.Novelist and historian Kneale (An Atheist's History of Belief: Understanding Our Most Extraordinary Invention, 2014, etc.) takes a fresh historical approach by focusing on groups of invaders that indelibly shaped the contemporary city. "Treasures," he writes, "have been preserved from the era of each sacking": the Gauls in 387 B.C.E., Visigoths and Ostrogoths from the 230s to the 500s C.E., Normans in the early 1000s, Spanish and Lutherans in the 1500s, French in the mid-19th century, and Nazis in the 20th century. Kneale offers gritty accounts of waves of violent incursions and vivid portraits of daily life--including health, food, housing, laws, sexual attitudes, and religious practices--during each period. In the second century, for example, with a population of more than 1 million, Rome was decidedly unhealthy. Measles, mumps, tuberculosis, smallpox, and malaria were widespread, and the life span for all but the wealthy was around 25. Medieval Rome was little better: In 1527, Rome stank "of rubbish, offal and fish bones, of filthy water from tanneries and dyers, and of dung, both animal and human." In 1525, an outbreak of plague ravaged the city. Within a few years, disease, war, and famine reduced the population by nearly a third. During the Renaissance, the French Pox--syphilis--spread across Italy, sending sufferers to quacks, apothecaries, and doctors who "still viewed bad health as stemming from an imbalance of the four humours." Food changed dramatically over the centuries: Kneale notes that at the time of the Goths, "classic Roman dishes would be more Thai than Mediterranean," flavored by fermented fish sauce. In the 11th century, Romans ate mostly roasts or stews, but in Renaissance Rome, those who could afford it enjoyed a variety of meats, vegetables, and fruits, including items still associated with Italian cuisine, such as buffalo mozzarella and artichokes. Few, though, had access to clean water: Only one aqueduct functioned, and the Tiber was severely polluted.A lively perspective on Rome's rich history.

     COPYRIGHT(2018) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

4. • premium: True
   • source:
   • content:

     May 1, 2018
     

     How do you tell the story of the Eternal City in a single book? Novelist and historian Kneale (English Passengers; When We Were Romans) attempts an episodic approach, centered on seven major instances of Rome's invasion by outside forces. Each sacking is given a single chapter, beginning with the Gallic invasions of the 380s BCE and ending with the Nazi occupation and Allied liberation of the city during World War II. Chapters open with the circumstances of the invasion, detours for an overview of Rome's condition and social character at that particular time, and conclude by relating the details of the plundering and its aftermath. The move from chapter to chapter usually necessitates a chronological leap of several hundred years, but in spite of the gaps, Kneale's choice of focal points provides a stirring view of the general history of Rome and its endurance and adaptability. VERDICT A solid history of Rome that isn't the typical straightforward narrative. Readers will find much to appreciate in Kneale's love for the city's past.--Kathleen McCallister, Tulane Univ., New Orleans

     Copyright 2018 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

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"This magnificent love letter to Rome" (Stephen Greenblatt) tells the story of the Eternal City through pivotal moments that defined its history—from the early Roman Republic through the Renaissance and the Reformation to the German occupation in World War Two—"an erudite history that reads like a page-turner" (Maria Semple).
Rome, the Eternal City. It is a hugely popular tourist destination with a rich history, famed for such sites as the Colosseum, the Forum, the Pantheon, St. Peter's, and the Vatican. In no other city is history as present as it is in Rome. Today visitors can stand on bridges that Julius Caesar and Cicero crossed; walk around temples in the footsteps of emperors; visit churches from the earliest days of Christianity.

This is all the more remarkable considering what the city has endured over the centuries. It has been ravaged by fires, floods, earthquakes, and—most of all—by roving armies. These have invaded repeatedly,...

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