About this item
"Kneale's account is a masterpiece of pacing and suspense. Characters from the city's history spring to life in his hands." - The Sunday Times (London) Novelist and historian Matthew Kneale, a longtime resident of Rome, tells the story of the Eternal City - from the early Roman Republic through the Renaissance and the Reformation to Mussolini and the German occupation in World War Two - through pivotal moments that defined its history.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 uses seven of these crisis moments to create a powerful and captivating account of Rome's extraordinary history. He paints portraits of the city before each assault, 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. He shows how Rome became the chaotic and wondrous place it is today. Rome: A History in Seven Sackings offers a unique look at a truly remarkable city.
About the Author
Matthew Kneale (born 24 November 1960) is a British writer, best known for his 2000 novel English Passengers. He went to school at Latymer Upper School in West London and then studied Modern History at Magdalen College, Oxford, before spending a year in Japan, when he began writing. He now lives in Italy. English Passengers won the prestigious Whitbread Book Award and was also shortlisted for the Booker Prize and for Australia's Miles Franklin Award in 2000, making him the first non-Australian author to be shortlisted for it. Kneale is the son of the writers Nigel Kneale and Judith Kerr. His other novels include Whore Banquets (1987 – winner of the 1988 Somerset Maugham Award, which was also won by his father in 1950; republished in 2002 as Mr. Foreigner), Inside Rose's Kingdom (1989), Sweet Thames (1992 – winner of the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize), and When We Were Romans (2008). In 2004,…
