Rome: A Granta City Guide

by Elizabeth Speller

As well as all the glories of Rome, this handsomely illustrated guide explores neighborhood markets, tiny parks, convents, traditional Jewish restaurants, the treasures of fading palazzi, and of museums to be visited at night. It leads you down narrow cobbled streets as charming as in any small provincial town. It tells you where to row a boat, visit waxworks, see a talking statue, or buy a handbag. It will lead you to the most beautiful views, the most spectacular mosaics, and the very finest coffee. Use this guide, arranged around 10 walks, to explore beyond the familiar tourist sites to discover the living city and the layers of its glorious past. Elizabeth Speller read Archaeology and Classics at Cambridge; her previous book was A New Guide.

266 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2005

About the author

Elizabeth Speller is a poet and author of four non-fiction books including a biography of Emperor Hadrian, companion guides to Rome and to Athens, and a memoir, Sunlight on the Garden. She has contributed to publications as varied as the Financial Times, Big Issue and Vogue and produced the libretto for a requiem for Linda McCartney, Farewell, composed by Michael Berkeley (OUP). She currently has a Royal Literary Fund Fellowship at Warwick and divides her life between Gloucestershire and Greece. She was a prize-winner in both the Ledbury and Bridport poetry competitions in 2008, and her poem, 'Finistere' was shortlisted for the Forward Poetry Prize in 2009. More profitably she is also a ghost blogger.