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OverviewBrimming with life and drama, this is the first book to explore two thousand years of European history through one of the most important imperial networks ever built 'All roads lead to Rome.' It's a medieval proverb, but it's also true- today's European roads still follow the networks of the ancient empire, as Rome's extraordinary legacy continues to grip our imaginations. Over the two thousand years since they were first built, the roads have been walked by crusaders and pilgrims, liberators and dictators, but also by tourists and writers, refugees and artists. Catherine Fletcher shows how the roads - as channels of trade and travel, routes of conquest and creativity - forever transformed the cultures, and intertwined the fates, of a vast panoply of people across Europe and beyond. The Roads to Rome is a magnificent journey into a past that remains intimately connected to our present. Travelling from Scotland to Cadiz, from Istanbul to Rome, we meander and march through a series of nations and empires that have risen and fallen. Along the way, we encounter spies and bandits, scheming innkeepers, a Byzantine noblewoman on the run, young aristocrats on their Grand Tour, a conquering Napoleon, Keats and the Shelleys, the abolitionist Frederick Douglass, and even Mussolini on his motorbike. Reflecting on his own walk on the Appian Way, Charles Dickens observed that here is 'a history in every stone that strews the ground'. Based on outstanding original research, and brimming with life and drama, this is the first book to explore two thousand years of history through one of the greatest imperial networks ever built. Full Product DetailsAuthor: Catherine FletcherPublisher: Vintage Publishing Imprint: The Bodley Head Ltd Dimensions: Width: 15.40cm , Height: 2.80cm , Length: 23.30cm Weight: 0.506kg ISBN: 9781847928047ISBN 10: 1847928048 Pages: 400 Publication Date: 13 June 2024 Audience: General/trade , College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , General , Tertiary & Higher Education Format: Paperback Publisher's Status: Forthcoming Availability: Not yet available  This item is yet to be released. You can pre-order this item and we will dispatch it to you upon its release. Table of ContentsReviewsEpic and witty ... Fletcher is a thoroughly enjoyable narrator because she peppers her learned prose with wry humour, first-person asides and comparisons between past and present ... The Roads to Rome is a nuanced and perceptive book that interrogates “the stories that we tell ourselves about who we are” -- Tobias Jones * Observer * Roman roads run everywhere, and Fletcher has been on most of them ... It has been her labour of love to crisscross an entire continent ... Fletcher's book is an exemplar of history as travelogue. It presents a familiar panorama - of Europe since antiquity - but from an unfamiliar, even original perspective. -- Miles Pattenden * Literary Review * Elegantly plotted … It is no easy task to condense 25 centuries of history into 300 pages and Fletcher, whose area of expertise is Renaissance Europe, rises to the challenge … For modern Grand Tourists, Fletcher’s book will provide an enjoyable distraction when the journey to Rome gets dull -- Patrick Kidd * The Times * [A] rich narrative of the long afterlife of Rome's roads -- Michael Prodger * New Statesman * [A] terrifically researched, sweeping study into the idea (or conception) of the Roman road * Unseen Histories * Brilliant and gripping, here is the full true Renaissance in a history of compelling originality and freshness Terrifying and fascinating * Sunday Times on The Beauty and the Terror * Exactly the alternative history you might wish for * Daily Telegraph on The Beauty and the Terror * In her magnificently imagined and vividly composed book, Catherine Fletcher gives new meaning to the word journeyman (these days journeyperson). Among her pages, we journey the thousands of miles of Roman roads from 500 BCE to the present and are never made timeless or homeless. Fletcher offers us justification for an infinity of plannable holidays or long hours of cosy reading at home. All readers should direct themselves to her Romes. -- Richard Bosworth * author of MUSSOLINI'S ITALY * Catherine Fletcher’s mastery of history and storytelling converge beautifully in this captivating exploration of the Roman roads. She expertly leads us on a journey that reaches from Rome to Spain to Constantinople, and from the remote past into the present. A must-read for tourists and armchair travellers alike. -- Ross King * author of THE BOOKSELLER OF FLORENCE * Brilliant and gripping, here is the full true Renaissance in a history of compelling originality and freshness -- Simon Sebag Montefiore on The Beauty and the Terror Terrifying and fascinating * Sunday Times on The Beauty and the Terror * Exactly the alternative history you might wish for * Daily Telegraph on The Beauty and the Terror * Epic and witty ... Fletcher is a thoroughly enjoyable narrator because she peppers her learned prose with wry humour, first-person asides and comparisons between past and present ... The Roads to Rome is a nuanced and perceptive book that interrogates “the stories that we tell ourselves about who we are” -- Tobias Jones * Observer * Roman roads run everywhere, and Fletcher has been on most of them ... It has been her labour of love to crisscross an entire continent ... Fletcher's book is an exemplar of history as travelogue. It presents a familiar panorama - of Europe since antiquity - but from an unfamiliar, even original perspective. -- Miles Pattenden * Literary Review * [A] terrifically researched, sweeping study into the idea (or conception) of the Roman road * Unseen Histories * With verve and expertise, Catherine Fletcher has tramped the far-flung Roman roads of Europe and created a delightful, novel and authoritative history from the ground up. -- Judith Herrin * author of BYZANTIUM * Past and present cleverly entwine in Catherine Fletcher’s erudite, entertaining and infinitely readable journey along the roads that stitch Europe’s history together. -- Helena Attlee * author of THE LAND WHERE LEMONS GROW * In her magnificently imagined and vividly composed book, Catherine Fletcher gives new meaning to the word journeyman (these days journeyperson). Among her pages, we journey the thousands of miles of Roman roads from 500 BCE to the present and are never made timeless or homeless. Fletcher offers us justification for an infinity of plannable holidays or long hours of cosy reading at home. All readers should direct themselves to her Romes. -- Richard Bosworth * author of MUSSOLINI'S ITALY * Brilliant and gripping, here is the full true Renaissance in a history of compelling originality and freshness -- Simon Sebag Montefiore on The Beauty and the Terror Terrifying and fascinating * Sunday Times on The Beauty and the Terror * Exactly the alternative history you might wish for * Daily Telegraph on The Beauty and the Terror * Past and present cleverly entwine in Catherine Fletcher’s erudite, entertaining and infinitely readable journey along the roads that stitch Europe’s history together. -- Helena Attlee * author of THE LAND WHERE LEMONS GROW * This is history quite literally following in the footsteps of the past: covering and uncovering the ways in which the Roman road network has become part of the DNA of every society since. It’s a magical and informative ode to the majesty and mystical power of the humble roadway. -- Michael Scott * Professor of Classics and Ancient History, University of Warwick * With verve and expertise, Catherine Fletcher has tramped the far-flung Roman roads of Europe and created a delightful, novel and authoritative history from the ground up. -- Judith Herrin * author of BYZANTIUM * The Roads to Rome is a vibrant, enchanting and rich compendium. Catherine Fletcher is an essential guide to the many hidden layers of history beneath our feet. -- Kelcey Wilson-Lee * author of DAUGHTERS OF CHIVALRY * Catherine Fletcher’s mastery of history and storytelling converge beautifully in this captivating exploration of the Roman roads. She expertly leads us on a journey that reaches from Rome to Spain to Constantinople, and from the remote past into the present. A must-read for tourists and armchair travellers alike. -- Ross King * author of THE BOOKSELLER OF FLORENCE * Author InformationCatherine Fletcher is a historian of Renaissance and early modern Europe and the author of several previous books, including most recently The Beauty and the Terror- An Alternative History of the Italian Renaissance, which was a Book of the Year (2020) in The Times. Catherine is Professor of History at Manchester Metropolitan University and broadcasts regularly for the BBC. Tab Content 6Author Website:Countries AvailableAll regions |
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