Scan barcode
Reviews
Dangerous Days in the Roman Empire: Terrors and Torments, Diseases and Deaths by Terry Deary
calli's review
3.0
I found it quite interesting, but the jokes and modern comparisons and quotes got boring quite quickly.
distilledreads's review
3.0
“History is a nightmare from which we are trying to awaken.” – James Joyce
It took me about 100 pages or so to really "get into" this book. The details can be just as gory as the back cover promises, but the writing style is much more tongue-in-cheek and chock full of puns. Not exactly what you expect when reading about death by fire or flaying and a series of brutal emperors. For this I really appreciated the excerpts by Dr. Peter Fox that gave the medical reasoning by how and why someone could die by whatever Roman form of torture. In the end I did come around to the way in which Deary approached this: Especially the puns. A perfect example is "...bombarded with turnips. Swede revenge." The book is also full of wonderful quotes about history and the Roman empire to break up the sections of information. Overall I did enjoy this book and would recommend it as a way to ease back into non-fiction reading. Deary's opinion on the people and era he is speaking to is very clear, so I would also recommend this to someone who already has some knowledge of this period for context and to get the most out of the book.
It took me about 100 pages or so to really "get into" this book. The details can be just as gory as the back cover promises, but the writing style is much more tongue-in-cheek and chock full of puns. Not exactly what you expect when reading about death by fire or flaying and a series of brutal emperors. For this I really appreciated the excerpts by Dr. Peter Fox that gave the medical reasoning by how and why someone could die by whatever Roman form of torture. In the end I did come around to the way in which Deary approached this: Especially the puns. A perfect example is "...bombarded with turnips. Swede revenge." The book is also full of wonderful quotes about history and the Roman empire to break up the sections of information. Overall I did enjoy this book and would recommend it as a way to ease back into non-fiction reading. Deary's opinion on the people and era he is speaking to is very clear, so I would also recommend this to someone who already has some knowledge of this period for context and to get the most out of the book.
rlaurene's review
2.0
Much like other reviewers, I was a huge fan of Horrible Histories growing up, and they spawned within me a passion for history that led me to study it at University. Unfortunately, Deary's writing hasn't quite aged with its audience: the same humour is used (minus the thoroughly entertaining illustrations that accompanied his books for kids) and all that seems to separate it as an adult's book are references to sex that wouldn't upset anyone over the age of ten. The format needs some more organisation, particularly the occurrences of the brief timelines.
On a more nitpicky note, there are a few typos in the dates (see the birthdate of Severus) and some facts are outdated, or have at least been contested by recent scholarship (the purpose of Hadrian's Wall being one that springs to mind). The problem with the latter, is that I raise the issue as a historian (in training) and Deary makes himself very clear throughout the book what he thinks of them as a species.
That being said, the book is still entertaining. It provides a good introduction to the basic facts of the Roman Empire in a format suited to someone with a burgeoning interest in the subject. I think once Deary finds his feet a bit more with his adult audience, any second book would be well worth a read.
On a more nitpicky note, there are a few typos in the dates (see the birthdate of Severus) and some facts are outdated, or have at least been contested by recent scholarship (the purpose of Hadrian's Wall being one that springs to mind). The problem with the latter, is that I raise the issue as a historian (in training) and Deary makes himself very clear throughout the book what he thinks of them as a species.
That being said, the book is still entertaining. It provides a good introduction to the basic facts of the Roman Empire in a format suited to someone with a burgeoning interest in the subject. I think once Deary finds his feet a bit more with his adult audience, any second book would be well worth a read.
jvpiters's review
3.0
I expected this to be much funnier than it was, but despite that it was still pretty informative. could have done without the suddenly anti-Christian mini rant in the epilogue, but oh well. (not that the Christians weren't horrible, but I didn't buy this book for a religious rant). Anyway a solid 3/5 for good information
More...