The creme de la creme of Roman guidebooks

When I next visit Rome, this is the essential book I'll be taking with me. I know Erasmo's scholarly book on Roman death but here he's writing for a popular tourist/visitor audience and manages the crossover admirably. All his depth of knowledge is here but underpinned by his passion for the city, and a lovely witty yet erudite approach.

This offers a range of mouth-watering walking tours through the city focused by area or by time period: I can't wait to do the Renaissance Rome tour for example, and found Erasmo's commentary full of wonderful facts that really bring the city to life.

There are maps and a brief selection of photos but this is primarily a textual guide: given Erasmo's position as a Classics professor this is certainly much more detailed than your average guide-book and may well prove just as enticing to armchair travellers.

Rome, the Eternal City – so much to see, so much to do. Where to start? Erasmo offers 15 walking tours that take visitors though cathedrals, ruins, parks, shops, and gelato stands. Some of the sights are well known, but others are off the beaten path, insuring that visitors see a few hidden gems. From ancient Rome to the Renaissance, there are amazing things to see all over he city and Erasmo makes sure that visitors have the opportunity to see them all.

Excellent! A tour de force.

In his own words (and the sub-title) of the book, this is the definitive walking guide to the Eternal City, and his word is good enough for me. All kidding aside, Professore Erasmo (who previously wrote a guide to Florence/Firenza), has a PhD from Yale and teaches Classics at the University of Georgia. If you look on the UGA website, you will see that his students rave about him as a teacher.

Whatever he brings to his classes, he brings a light and chatty style to this book. It’s like going to see the city with a friend who knows all about the history and culture of Rome, and also the ‘special’ places that the locals go.

Depending where in the Eternal City you want to go, he has a walking tour that you can do in a day (Tour One) or if you do the whole book, looks to take weeks. The good thing is that you can do the tours sequentially or just go to the places you have time to see. Each tour starts with its’ own map. Whichever you choose you won’t go wrong.

At the end of the book is a very useful listing of Italian holidays when you can expect everything to be closed; and there is a listing of the hours of most of the monuments and museums. Lastly there is a Glossary of the meanings of names of what the different types of monuments are called (i.e. cippus = burial marker). Worthwhile for any traveler to Rome, and a good companion to your Rough Guide.

Zeb Kantrowitz zworstblog.blogspot.com zebsblog@gmail.com

This is a great companion for any trip to Rome with its well-researched history, varied walks and excellent directions. Artists, princes, queens and other interesting characters populate these pages, and who could fail to want to read about them while touring Rome's gorgeous piazzas, churches and fountains? There is a lot of information to absorb here, so it is probably best not to do too many walks in too short a time!

I will definitely be using this guide on my next trip to this radiant city.