Cover the art, history, and archaeology of Rome. Includes dozens of full-color photographs.

If one has a predilection to first take a "mind trip" before actually visiting a historical city, as I do, he can do no better than read this beautifully rendered book about the history of Rome. I have not been to Rome since my diplomatic days, but what I remember are exquisitely rendered in the glossies of this book (minus all the pigeon droppings and the associated smells). Yet, on a sunny day, Rome is difficult to beat anywhere in the world.

The brief chronology of Roman history from its origin to the year 2000 gives the kind of perspective that old brains that have forgotten most of Roman history, sorely need. It is also helpful that the structures are numbered in the pictures making it easier to identify the unfamiliar ones.