The ultimate Rome reading list
Rome is definitely stranger than fiction and there is no better way to understand its incredible facts than by its stories. From the behind-the-scenes real life tales of imperial Rome, the fantastic Baroque streets and the families who created the city to the fearful years of Fascist Rome and the true grit of the post war, ISSIMO shares the Eternal City’s secret and not-so-secret stories.
The Twelve Caesars
by Seutonius
Emperor Hadrian’s private secretary Seutonius had a front row to the men who created the most incredible empire.
The Families Who Made Rome
by Anthony Majanlathi
A chronicling of the families and individuals who built Rome from the ground up.
M: The Man Who Became Caravaggio
by Peter Robb
An evocative biography on the life and times of bad-boy painter Michelangelo Merisi, aka Caravaggio.
The Secrets of Rome
by Corrado Augias
Augias tells Rome’s 27 centuries of history through fact and personal stories.
Pleasure
by Gabriele D’Annunzio
The life of a serial seducer in Rome during the Belle Epoque.
The Conformist
by Alberto Moravia
Moravia’s most important novel set during the anxious years of Fascist Italy, traverses sex and politics in a nation of cynical opportunists.
Rome Tales
by Hugh Shankland
A collection of 20 tales set in the Eternal City (over seven centuries) by Italian authors including Boccaccio, Casanova and Pier Paolo Pasolini.
That Awful Mess on the Via Merulana
by Carlo Emilio Gadda
The Great Novel disguised as a delicious detective story set on the gritty streets of 1950s Rome.
Popes Peasants and Shepherds
by Oretta Zanini de Vita
Oretta Zanini de Vita’s all-encompassing tome on the food of Rome and the Lazio region.
