This is an excellent one volume history of Rome from the Etruscan beginnings, the Republic, Empire, and through the fall of the Western empire. Michael Grant was "one of the few classical historians to win respect from [both] academics and a lay readership"(The Times, 13 October 2004). Immensely prolific, he wrote and edited more than 70 books of nonfiction and translation, covering topics from Roman coinage and the eruption of Mount Vesuvius to the Gospels. This overview, while not comprehensive in detail, provides the general reader with the significant events and trends of Roman history. ( )

The best concise history of Ancient Rome available. A classic. ( )

It reads like a textbook, which makes sense: it was a textbook in a college course. Nevertheless, if you have any interest in Roman History, there isn't much here you don't already know. ( )