SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome by Mary Beard (2015; ISBN 978-1846683800) Entry-Level- An eminently readable and entertaining, thorough and reliable general history of the Roman Republic and early Roman Empire. Mary Beard is one of the few well-known popular historians who also has impeccable academic credentials, and it shows. This book not only provides the usual high-level overview of political history, emperors and generals, but also pays a lot of attention to social history and the way the ancient Romans thought and saw the world. At least as notable and valuable is the attention it pays to the history of Roman history: not in an academic historiographical sense, but by examining the way Western society through the ages has used and re-interpreted the Roman past for its own purposes. As a high-level overview for the interested layman it is not quite up to date on the latest research, and as a work of synthesis it won’t offer much in the way of new insights to the expert, but it is excellent at what it does. Highly recommended to anyone looking for a general introduction on the Romans who does not know where else to start.