The Fires of Vesuvius

Pompeii Lost and Found

By: Mary Beard

Narrated by: Phyllida Nash

Length: 12 hrs and 36 mins

Publisher's summary

Pompeii is the most famous archaeological site in the world, visited by more than two million people each year. Yet it is also one of the most puzzling, with an intriguing and sometimes violent history. 

Destroyed by Vesuvius in 79 CE, the ruins of Pompeii offer the best evidence we have of life in the Roman Empire. But the eruptions are only part of the story. In The Fires of Vesuvius, acclaimed historian Mary Beard makes sense of the remains. She explores what kind of town it was - more like Calcutta or the Costa del Sol? - and what it can tell us about "ordinary" life there. From sex to politics, food to religion, slavery to literacy, Beard offers us the big picture even as she takes us close enough to the past to smell the bad breath and see the intestinal tapeworms of the inhabitants of the lost city. She resurrects the Temple of Isis as a testament to ancient multiculturalism. At the Suburban Baths we go from communal bathing to hygiene to erotica.  

Recently, Pompeii has been a focus of pleasure and loss: from Pink Floyd's memorable rock concert to Primo Levi's elegy on the victims. But Pompeii still does not give up its secrets quite as easily as it may seem. This book shows us how much more and less there is to Pompeii than a city frozen in time as it went about its business on 24 August 79 CE.

©2008 Mary Beard (P)2019 Tantor

Exceeded expectations

Terrific book with a short review... author questions several assumptions made about archeological findings - was this "typical" or specific to a situation? Moreover, she emphasizes that Pompeii was a place in its own right, not some sort of proxy mini-Rome. Excellent audio narration adds to the experience.

Amazing!

As a history teacher who loves to study everything Roman, I've got to say, this is incredible! Mary Beard gives an incredible account of what life was like in the living city of Pompeii and includes a great amount of evidence, interpretation (her own an other historians) and context to help it all make sense. This is a must read for anyone who loves history, Rome, Pompeii, or just good story telling!

Great Listen

I really enjoyed listening to this book. The narrator is excellent. However, it helps to be able to look at illustrations. As it happens, I had a physical copy of the book. This was the perfect way to listen/read it.

Mary Beard is always fun and informative!

Like everything she does, Mary Beard's scholarship and storytelling is first rate. Listen to this!

Mary Beard is perfect as always!

One of the better books I’ve read on Roman history. Mary Beard continues to bring Ancient Rome to life with a unique combination of grittiness and intelligence, that is both informative and entertaining.

Travelogue through time

The book is broken up in chapters dealing with different aspects of life in Pompeii. Each topic is a cogent rationale and often debunks ideas of the past about what life was like in Pompeii. The narrator has a wonderful easy to listen to voice which makes this book doubly a pleasure.

Enchanting

This book was written in such a wonderful manner, facts and insights into the City of Pompeii. excellent narrator.

Very informative

Very informative, taking a sometimes humorous look at life in Pompeii and the attempts of archeologists to connect the puzzle pieces.

Pompeii unveiled

Marie beard knows how to make history interesting.
It’s worth listening to a few times because there’s so many compelling details about this lost people and how they lived. It’s a mystery unraveled.

Now Phyllida Nash is a favorite

I *loved* the narration and performance by Phyllida Nash. I could listen to her all day long. Clear, stately, and conveys the material beautifully.