Rome

There's a decidedly irreverent tone to historian Matthew Kneale's account of Rome's repeated sackings, a focus that allows him to compress 24 centuries of Roman history into a concise 13 listening hours. Narrator Neil Gardner's London refinements have their own edge of estuary roughness, and together author and reader are an inspired match, their sometimes horrific tale leavened by dry humor and a degree of ironic detachment. From the Gauls to the Nazis, the Eternal City has been a symbol and a prize, an epic that is more Brecht than Virgil. Told here with considerable energy and high spirits, it's a history rich in detail, action, and human interest, surprisingly accessible and engaging, and one of this spring's true sleepers. D.A.W. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award � AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine