Rating: 
Summary: Not bad, as far as it goes...
Review: ...which is not all that far, really. This is some pretty basic information on Rome, and boy do events go quickly! If basics are what you're looking for, plus lots of great maps and some cool pictures (everything is full color), then this slim volume is perfect for you. I bought this book as a supplement (recommended by the professor) to a course I was taking in Roman History, and I never read it -- at least not for the course. It's fun to flip through, though, and honestly I would recommend it for younger readers.
Rating:
Summary: Not bad, as far as it goes...
Review: ...which is not all that far, really. This is some pretty basic information on Rome, and boy do events go quickly! If basics are what you're looking for, plus lots of great maps and some cool pictures (everything is full color), then this slim volume is perfect for you. I bought this book as a supplement (recommended by the professor) to a course I was taking in Roman History, and I never read it -- at least not for the course. It's fun to flip through, though, and honestly I would recommend it for younger readers.
Rating:
Summary: Needed better proofing
Review: A nice looking book, but as I get into it the need for better editorial work is showing. The battle of Pharsalus is mistakenly placed in Thrace instead of in Thessaly, and two pages later the battle of Philippi is called the battle of Pharsalus! Another reviewer noted that Tacitus is misspelled in the Foreword. This book was published in 1995, so things like this should have been fixed by now. Maybe the rest will be acccurate, but so far it does not inspire confidence.
Rating:
Summary: Needed better proofing
Review: A nice looking book, but as I get into it the need for better editorial work is showing. The battle of Pharsalus is mistakenly placed in Thrace instead of in Thessaly, and two pages later the battle of Philippi is called the battle of Pharsalus! Another reviewer noted that Tacitus is misspelled in the Foreword. This book was published in 1995, so things like this should have been fixed by now. Maybe the rest will be acccurate, but so far it does not inspire confidence.
Rating: 
Summary: Highly recommended for a concise history of Rome
Review: An excellent little booklet on ancient Rome starting from the initial stages as a city state right up to the decline and fall after 378 AD or so. A superb reference book simply because of its small size and quick clear illustrations with maps and diagrams which display important information extremely well, even the little known fact that Chinese ambassadors visited Rome in the age of Marcus Aurelius is fascinating. The book is full of gems like this. It outlines the trade that took place including the silk route to China and India, the major figures including not only the emperors but also the major proponents of art, history and rhetoric such as Cicero and Tacitus. This is a book intended for a quick summary not an in depth detailed look at a topic as such it does this very well indeed. Highly recommended for a concise history of Rome
Rating: 
Summary: ancient pictures
Review: Fine pictures throughout the text. Can be a pictorial companion to other historical texts, e.g., Gibbon. Text quality is diminished as there are numerous editorial glitches such as out of place prepositions. In the forward Tacitus is spelled Tactius - might confuse the history student!
Rating: 
Summary: Historical Atlas of Where?!?
Review: I don't know where these folks got their information, but it is certainly not based in reality. I found a tremendous amount of the information in this book to be downright erroneous. At one point, the book claims that the Emperor Tiberius restored the Temples of Castor and Pollux between the years 6 B.C and 7 A.D. Sad to say, Penguin, but Augustus was Emperor during those years and was responsible for the restoration of the Temple. Bad information, bad typesetting (yes, they've actually used cut and paste - the old fashioned form - in areas to correct mistakes before press time), and sadly inaccurate maps are the highlights of this book. On the plus side ... pretty colors.
Rating:
Summary: For beginners only!!!
Review: If you are already familiar with the broad outlines of Roman history and are looking for a visual reference to further your explorations, keep looking. This volume appears to be the outcome of an effort guided primarily by concern for today's short attention spans and budget limitations. The text is adequate enough as the briefest of introductions to its subject, but in fact this is an ATLAS, not a history per se, and its usefulness as such depends on the quality of its maps, which I found sadly disappointing. For one thing, there are surprisingly few maps in this volume. If you are interested in the growth of the city itself, if you hope to trace the movements of particular military campaigns, or if you seek a better understanding of trade routes, you will not find this volume helpful. Only the tired highlights (which can be found in any number of books) are covered. Furthermore, the maps are small--to the point of silliness--and the editors have in a number of instances alluded to events separated by a wide gulf of years on the same map. This renders even the few maps in the atlas muddled and is sure to confuse rather than inform neophytes, though these would seem to be the primary target audience. On the plus side, the book contains a number of interesting photographs, and the captions to these are surprisingly informative--the best thing about the book. All in all, a great disappointment and a surprising one as I remember Penguin's excellent pocketbook atlases of world history. Unfortunately, the narrowed focus of this Roman atlas was not matched by a corresponding increase in the quality of information offered.
Rating:
Summary: For beginners only!!!
Review: If you are already familiar with the broad outlines of Roman history and are looking for a visual reference to further your explorations, keep looking. This volume appears to be the outcome of an effort guided primarily by concern for today's short attention spans and budget limitations. The text is adequate enough as the briefest of introductions to its subject, but in fact this is an ATLAS, not a history per se, and its usefulness as such depends on the quality of its maps, which I found sadly disappointing. For one thing, there are surprisingly few maps in this volume. If you are interested in the growth of the city itself, if you hope to trace the movements of particular military campaigns, or if you seek a better understanding of trade routes, you will not find this volume helpful. Only the tired highlights (which can be found in any number of books) are covered. Furthermore, the maps are small--to the point of silliness--and the editors have in a number of instances alluded to events separated by a wide gulf of years on the same map. This renders even the few maps in the atlas muddled and is sure to confuse rather than inform neophytes, though these would seem to be the primary target audience. On the plus side, the book contains a number of interesting photographs, and the captions to these are surprisingly informative--the best thing about the book. All in all, a great disappointment and a surprising one as I remember Penguin's excellent pocketbook atlases of world history. Unfortunately, the narrowed focus of this Roman atlas was not matched by a corresponding increase in the quality of information offered.
Rating:
Summary: A great aid for people learning about Rome
Review: My young son and I are planning a trip to Italy this summer, so we've been learning what we can about Roman history. Unfortunately it's pretty hard to visualize how the empire expanded and contracted, and how the various military campaigns came about, on the basis of text alone. This book of maps is a good way to get a mental picture of what you are learning. The text is OK but cursory and does not add as much to the pictures. However, if you would like to have a good set of Roman maps in a single, portable, location, this is an excellent choice.
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