Brittany Schade Schade থেকে Blyshchanivka, Khmel'nyts'ka oblast, Ukraine
This well documented book on Hadrian paints the picture of a Renaissance man before his time. Hadrian was an architect, solder, poet and recreational traveler among many other pursuits. The book would be a challenging introduction to Roman history but flows well and contains many stories about Hadrian's political and personal life. The author relies heavily on documentation other than Hadrian's personal memoirs and takes some license to fill in events from sources that don't mention Hadrian by name but do suggest what Hadrian might have done and seen during his reign. Hadrian is a likable character that I could imagine talking with in a bar but I'd have to ask him how he really felt about irradicating every Jew from Jerusalem and killing those Senators to secure his power. Oh yes, I'd also have to ask him if he killed is homosexual teen lover.