This ambitious book is intended to provide Rome's first urban biography, spanning the entire history of the city from its mythical beginnings to its present-day incarnation as what the authors describe as a ‘historic theme park’ (p. 347). Taking the long view, the authors explore the ways in which the urban fabric of Rome has been shaped and reshaped by its peoples, leaders and natural environment. The book is divided into three periods, roughly ancient, medieval and modern, presumably corresponding to the expertise of the three authors, Taylor, Kostof and Rinne respectively, although authorship of individual chapters is not expressly credited in the contents page. The core of the book is based on Kostof's Matthews lectures on the ‘medievalisation’ of Rome, delivered at Columbia in 1976, and published here posthumously for the first time, albeit in a modified and updated form. While these central chapters still bear the marks of their original lecture format and are notably different in tone and format from the rest of the book, moving more thematically back and forth from pre-Constantinian Rome to the twelfth century with some repetition, the book forms a remarkably coherent whole, with Taylor and Rinne extending the narrative before and after.

The city of Rome and its development is undoubtedly the star of the show and takes centre stage throughout the chapters, which proceed broadly chronologically. Some key themes can be traced across the book, such as mapping and zoning of the city, ranging from the various ancient marble plans of Rome and their probable administrative function, to the listing, measuring and documenting of ancient buildings in the Renaissance, and the creation of Giovanni Battista Nolli's La pianta grande di Roma in 1748. We also see changing approaches to the zoning of urban space, from the mixed neighbourhoods of ancient Rome to the control of areas by powerful medieval baronial families, to the development of the Jewish ghetto, and the clustering of migrant groups, merchants and traders in the early modern period, although neighbourhoods still remained largely mixed until the late nineteenth century. The inhabitants of Rome come in and out of the narrative, but some of the most interesting sections of the book explore the urban environment as a lived experience. We see, for example, how changes in the water supply affect the development of urban neighbourhoods and how the development of paths across the city, and right through the centre of Classical buildings, show how people were living in these spaces in the medieval period, creating their own city within the remnants of ancient Rome. The continued use and reuse of buildings and building material within Rome speaks to the resourcefulness of the urban inhabitants and the changing landscape of the city, while the nature of housing and housing policy across the centuries had a real and direct impact on everyday life, as did the presence of gardens and public parks, and the development of flood prevention measures, ranging from Augustus’ early interventions to the eventual building of the Tiber defences in the late nineteenth century, effectively cutting the river off from the city.

The book is clearly a monumental undertaking, and covering the entire history of Rome in 35 chapters means that each one is understandably brief. This is Rome in broad brushstrokes, with important events in both the history of the city itself and in world history inevitably skimmed over quickly with minimal detail. This makes it an interesting read, and the authors have clearly made some careful editorial choices about what to include and how. It is richly illustrated, with a well-chosen image on almost every page; images are often cross-referenced in different chapters in the book, encouraging readers to make connections between periods and to view Rome as a palimpsest. A useful glossary of persons, places and terms is provided at the end of the book, although this could have been signposted to the reader earlier.

While engaging and thoughtful throughout, the sheer scope and ambition of the book makes its target audience a little difficult to identify. The authors appear to envisage both specialists and students (p. 3), but specialists in a particular area would probably want more detail, while newcomers to the city of Rome would require more guidance. The book assumes a level of familiarity with the city and with its topography in particular; street names and districts are mentioned throughout with no further details and there is little in the way of maps to orientate the reader. There are no footnotes or references, and while each chapter has a bibliography at the end, these could have been more usefully presented as an annotated directed guide to further reading, allowing readers to follow up on specific points in more depth. The lack of references to scholarship and to primary sources, together with the airbrushing out of academic debates, make it difficult for students to engage with the material critically. Mention is made, for example, of a ‘provocative suggestion’ that the Circus Flaminius was intended as a sort of Plebeian anti-forum (p. 22), but it is not clear if the author agrees with this suggestion, nor are any further details provided to enable any assessment of the argument. On other occasions, students would struggle to follow up on details of archaeological sites or aspects of life in the city, as common terminology is not used; the term ‘lapis niger’, for example, is omitted entirely when referring to the archaic altar and inscribed marker in the Comitium (p. 14), while organisations centred on specific professions are not named as collegia (p. 118). Confusingly for those who do not know the debate, the large vaulted Republican structure in the Emporium is identified as navalia in the text (p. 26) but labelled as the ‘so-called Porticus Aemilia’ in the accompanying image (fig. 18). Furthermore, numerous points of scholarly contention are glossed over and presented as fact; the triumphal route, for example, is fixed (Chapter 6), there was a Flavian precursor to the Severan Marble Plan on the wall of Vespasian's Temple of Peace (p. 97), and Constantine's forces were inspired by his vision of a christogram (p. 136), while the difficulties of interpreting particular sources, such as the 40,000 apartment buildings listed in the Regionary Catalogues (p. 222), are not considered.

However, it is perhaps inevitable that some nuance and detail is lost in a book of this scope, although, if it were to be used as a textbook, students would need careful guidance and further direction. It remains engaging and entertaining throughout, and specialists and students of all periods should find something to enjoy here; as an ancient historian, I particularly enjoyed the later chapters about early modern and modern Rome, provoking me to think much more about the lived experience of a city that I personally experience primarily as a tourist and a researcher.