Pompeii

by Piero Giovanni Guzzo and Antonio d'Ambrosio

Book Overview

Since its discovery in the middle of the eighteenth century, Pompeii has aroused the interest of scholars and laypeople alike. The thrill of finding the ancient city--buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD--was heightened by the rich history of this Roman town and her people. When the ancient sculptures, decorations, and buildings of Pompeii first came to light, they were eagerly compared with then-contemporary knowledge of classical antiquity,...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 888265026X
• ISBN13: 9788882650261
• Release Date: March 2000
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
• Length: 160 Pages
• Weight: 1.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 9.4" x 6.3"

Customer Reviews

Pompeii trip planning must

This book is great for anyone planning a trip to Pompeii. The maps and pictures are great. The guide is organized around 3 itineraries so that you can more easily plan your time to maximize what you can see. Pompeii looks vast, so that organization like this could be important in spending your time at the site wisely before you can't walk anymore. I wish there was a book like this for when I visited Ostia last year. The maps are great and accurate enough so that you can mark in extra sites that you might want to visit that you get off the web and integrate then into the planned itinerary for that day. later after the trip to Pompeii It's a good idea to buy this book becaseu it has all kinds of pictures of the interiors of houses you won't be able to see when you go to Pompeii. The pictures inside are exquiste. What you don't know is that a lot of the houses that are described in the book on the 3 walks that are outlined are either not open to the public, being 'restored", or are only open on Saturday and Sunday and you have to make an appointment online to be able to see to see them. Once you get to the gates of Pompeii (even on sat or Sunday), you can't get into either the House of the Gilded Cupids or the House of Menander. The House of the Vetti, lupanare, and the House of Julius Polybius are also being restored and god know when that will be done. The House of the tragic Poet can't be entered and you have to view the mosaic from the other side of a gate. You can't see the frescoes of Vestorius Priscus either; they were locked up and unable to be viewed. i can say the same about several other houses that Dr Guzzo did not mentione in the book, but could have been substitutes fo what was being restored. In fact a lot of the houses were locked up and the interesting stuff that you could view form 10 feet away can be more easily viewed in books (and at considerably less cost).

Good visitor's guide

This book is an excellent visitor's guide. It is full of high quality pictures and maps that will guide you to the important sights. The text is rather dry, but this is only of concern in the somewhat long introduction that deals with the history of Pompeii. After that the book follows a pattern of a photograph or other picture on each page with a detailed legend explaining what is being shown. Even if you don't visit Pompeii you will know what you would have seen if you did.

Pompeii

I purchased this book as a gift for friends who were going to Pompeii. I wanted them to be prepared to really understand what they would be seeing. The book seemed very complete and contained pictures to further help them get a glimpse into the history of the city. They were very pleased and used the book to enjoy their tour.

Great guide for a day trip to Pompeii

This is a great book to take along if you have a day to spend in Pompeii and prefer self-guided tours or want to explore the ruins unaccompanied. It describes three routes through the city, each covering different sections. We were easily able to identify each stop described in the book, and to identify important artifacts from the photographs in the book. The book also provides concise historical information for each artifact - it was easy to read a little interesting background information about the artifact and then move on to the next.