Guides
The Blue Guide to Rome
A Companion's Guide to Rome
The Blue Guide to Rome (W.W. Norton) and Georgina Masson’s A Companion Guide to Rome (Companion Guides) are among the most comprehensive guidebooks written about Rome. The Blue Guide probably has more facts and historical background, whereas Masson’s book, while also packed with information, is more conversational in tone. But neither of them discusses the deeper philosophical issues that Rome evokes. I always pack one of these two books on my trips there.
Literary Essays, Travelogues, and Novellas
Susan Cahill’s The Smiles of Rome: A Literary Companion for Readers and Travelers (Ballantine Books) is a collection of engaging essays on Rome written by famous novelists, artists, and historians through the centuries.
Eleanor Clark’s Rome and a Villa (Harper Collins) is a travelogue memoir, comprehensive and rich in colorful details, that chronicles her stay there between 1948 and 1951; Clark’s writing style is pensive, playful, and even contemplative.
Corrado Augias’s The Secrets of Rome: Love and Death in the Eternal City (Rizzoli) is an entertaining collection of novellas about largely unknown stories about Rome through the centuries.
History
Rome: Profile of a City, 312-1308
Richard Krautheimer’s Rome: Profile of a City, 312-1308 (Princeton), while largely known only to the cognoscenti, is a masterful, authoritative review of how Rome, its architecture, and its art changed from the 4th to 14th centuries. Combining history, art, and architecture—the photos and illustrations are very helpful—Krautheimer’s book has inspired me the most. It is for good reason that this man’s genius earned him numerous papal awards, the honorary title of Citizen of Rome, and a resting place, along with his wife, in the city’s Protestant Cemetery.
SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome
Professor Mary Beard’s SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome (Liveright) is a highly entertaining and very informative discussion of the early Roman Empire, written in an informal, conversational style. Her slightly earlier Confronting the Classics: Traditions, Adventures, and Innovations (Liveright) expands her scope to classical civilization in general, and the easily accessible chapters give the reader a better appreciation of ancient history and how it affects us today.