SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome by Mary Beard

This is the story of how Rome grew, covering 1000 years of Roman history;
giving the reader a feel for what it was like to live in Rome at the different times.

A general history book of over 500 pages can be a slog, but SPQR is fast moving!

The book is instead a precise explication of what it is we know about specific selected events in Roman history, what it is we do not know, and why we do or do not know.

I enjoyed the book and the way it organised its topics in Chronology and the way dealt with political aspects of Rome and at the same time intergrated ordinary life for Romans and their subjects both rich and poor.  

The author also makes an interesting distinction between "learning from the Romans" vs. "engaging with the Romans history"
Rome was built. Mary Beard’s sweep of events goes beyond the consuls, senators, generals and emperors to cover the lives of their spouses, the middle class, the poor, and the slaves.