Philip Matyszak

This is a desert of textbook dryness presented in a glossy wrapping. While this works ok as a reference book to the different rulers of the Roman Republic, simply sticking to a presentation in strict chronological order the way it is done here breaks up and disrupts the flow of the historical narrative in a very unnecessary, and unfortunate, way. Because the timelines of so many of these biographies overlap, the chronology doesn't quite work out, and the result is a chronicle that tends to obscure the larger picture of historical events and developments instead of illuminate them. This is part due to the format of the Chronicle Series, but I still think the author should have been able to make a far better job of it than this.… (altro)