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The
Most Comprehensive Book
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 This
is one of the newest and most comprehensive surveys of ancient Pompeii
and its buried surrounding areas. It's an academic addition to
the literature on Pompeii, each chapter by a well-known
expert. Published by Routledge, The
World of Pompeii includes the latest understanding of
the region, based on the up-to-date findings of recent
archaeological work. The book is also accompanied by a CD with
the most detailed map of Pompeii so far, this book is
instrumental in studying the city in the ancient world and is
an excellent source book for students of this fascinating and
tragic geographic region. A more affordable paperback
edition is also available.
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Other
New Books
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Secrets
of Pompeii: Everyday Life in Ancient Rome
A fascinating look
at how ancient Romans interacted in their public squares and
marketplaces, how they worshipped, decorated their homes, and
spent their leisure time--at the theater, in the gymnasium, and
in the baths and brothels. Illustrated with photographs of
architectural remains and exquisite details from a range of
ancient artworks, including wall paintings, sculptures, mosaics,
and carved reliefs, the book offers a glimpse into a lost world.
A Getty Publication.
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Resurrecting
Pompeii
Pompeii has been
continuously excavated and studied since 1784. Early scholars
working in Pompeii and other sites associated with the AD 79
eruption of Mount Vesuvius were seduced by the wealth of
artifacts and wall paintings yielded by the site. This meant
that the less visually attractive evidence, such as human
skeletal remains, were largely ignored. Recognizing the
important contribution of the human skeletal evidence to the
archaeology and history of Pompeii, Resurrecting Pompeii
remedies that misdemeanor, and provides students of archaeology
and history with an essential resource in the study of this
fascinating historical event.
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The
Fires of Vesuvius: Pompeii Lost and Found
The eruption of
Vesuvius in AD 79 is only part of the Pompeii's story.
In The Fires of Vesuvius, acclaimed historian Mary
Beard makes sense of the remains. She explores what kind of
town it was—more like Calcutta or the Costa del Sol?—and
what it can tell us about “ordinary” life there. From sex
to politics, food to religion, slavery to literacy, Beard
offers us the big picture even as she takes us close enough to
the past to smell the bad breath and see the intestinal
tapeworms of the inhabitants of the lost city. She resurrects
the Temple of Isis as a testament to ancient multiculturalism.
This book shows us how much more and less there is to Pompeii
than a city frozen in time as it went about its business on 24
August 79.
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Although
the two covers are exactly alike, the books are very different
and each worth owning.
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The
Complete Pompeii is an excellent resource
guide to the ancient town. 360 illustrations (320 in color),
this volume is thorough and very impressive. Highly,
highly recommended!
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Pompeii
Awakened presents
a thorough background to the ancient site and fills in many obscure
details about its rediscovery, including what happened to Pompeii
during Mussolini's rise and fall from power. Excellent!
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Other
Books: For
Adults and Guided Student Research
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Vesuvius
A.D.79 The clearest
and most scientific account of what really happened when Vesuvius erupted. Detailed
information and pictures about the discovery of human remains. Highly
recommended!
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Cities
of Vesuvius: Pompeii and Herculaneum This book presents a
picture of life at the time Vesuvius erupted in a clear and vivid account:
nonfiction that reads like a novel. Highly recommended!
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Pompeii
is the book that came from a BBC documentary about the ancient city (and
also shown on the Discovery Channel in the US). This book provides a
massive amount of detail about the city before, during and after the
eruption of Vesuvius. Not to be missed!
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Ghosts
of Vesuvius : A New Look at the Last Days of Pompeii, How Towers Fall, and
Other Strange Connections
A strange, but fascinating look at Pompeii, the twin towers, and other
connections. The author relates many Pompeii stories, rarely written
elsewhere.
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Pompeii
: The Living City recreates
the bustling life of this Roman town, as well as the eruption
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Pompeii
is
a very readable novel about life leading
up to (and including) the eruption. Recommended for those wanting to
learn more about Pompeii through fiction!
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The Lost World of Pompeii
contains an excellent account of the eruption as
well as the excavations. It also includes more than 150 new
photographs. Published in association with the World Monuments Fund.
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Pompeii
Written by the superintendent of the ruins (with
others), this excellent guidebook is the perfect reference for anyone who wants more
information about the buildings and discoveries at Pompeii.
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Pompeii
by Alison Cooley examines the impact of science, archaeology, and
politics upon interpretations of Pompeii over the last 250 years,
including the ways in which vulcanology has transformed our picture
of its last moments.
Also by the same author is
Pompeii:
A Sourcebook which is
designed more for students and provides excerpts from primary
sources on Pompeii.
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Women
and Beauty in Pompeii explores the nature of female beauty in
ancient Rome by studying depictions of women in Pompeii art.
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Gladiators
at Pompeii
Well-written look at the details of gladiator combat in general as well as the spectacles at
Pompeii. Includes a few pages about female gladiators.
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And don't forget
Herculaneum, Pompeii's neighboring city.
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The
Library of the Villa dei Papiri at Herculaneum
The richest finds were from
a villa that came to be called the Villa dei Papiri, because
it also yielded upward of a thousand papyrus rolls--the only
library ever to have been recovered from the classical world.
To the great excitement of contemporaries, the papyri held out
the tantalizing possibility of the rediscovery of lost
masterpieces by classical writers. Written for the general
reader, this introduction to the ancient library describes the
long and difficult history of attempts to unwind the damaged
rolls. The author describes the how the ancient books were
created from papyrus, and provides an account of attitudes
toward books in Greece and Rome. This thoroughly researched
and engaging book will be enjoyed by any reader with an
interest in classical studies.
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The
Villa dei Papiri at Herculaneum: Life and Afterlife of a
Sculpture Collection
The book describes the
nature of the ancient sculptures found at the Villa dei Papiri
and their impact on the modern public. Their chance discovery
affected the interpretation of the statues over the course of
the next 250 years. The ancient sculptures were copied
extensively. The author traces the popularity of these copies
in Europe and America. Scientific analyses and photographs
reveal both how the pieces were cast and pieced together in
antiquity and how they were restored in the eighteenth
century. Even though this collection has been known for two
and a half centuries, this book covers for the first time the
eclectic nature of the sculptures, their actual condition, and
their quality, pointing in some cases to mass production.
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The
Herculaneum Women: History, Context, Identities
About 1710,
three life-size marble statues of women were found near
Portici on the Bay of Naples. This discovery led to further
exploration of the site, which was soon identified as the
ancient city of Herculaneum. The statues became famous
throughout Europe as the "Herculaneum Women." This
book presents for the first time in any language the
comprehensive story of these famous statues, including their
discovery, archaeological context, art history,
interpretation, (an ongoing debate), and the impact of the
Greek statuary types on representations of Roman women
throughout the Mediterranean. No other models of the draped
female body were used more often in Roman sculpture to carry
individual portraits, including those of empresses, than the
Large and Small Herculaneum Women.
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One
 of the best
general books on
the subject of Herculaneum, good for both teens and adults, is The
Town of Hercules: A Buried Treasure Trove. Clearly written, and
well-illustrated, it explains what happened when Vesuvius erupted
and the results of archaeological excavations: not only the
artifacts but what the discoveries have revealed about the lives of
both the wealthy and working people. An earlier edition by the same author is Herculaneum:
Italy's Buried Treasure. Either one is highly recommended!
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Some books about Roman buildings
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Houses
and Society in Pompeii and Herculaneum
"[In]
this splendidly illustrated book ... Wallace-Hadrill argues
for a new understanding of urban life in the early [Roman]
empire. This book is highly recommended for anyone interested
in GrecoRoman study." Scientific American
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The
Houses of Roman Italy, 100 B.C.-A.D. 250: Ritual, Space, and
Decoration
"An exhaustive study of
Roman wall painting, mosaic, and stucco decoration. . . . In
case studies of 17 excavated houses throughout Italy, Clarke
takes us through the changing styles and values in Roman life,
from earlier, more functionally decorative art to the more
extravagant (and at times gaudy) paintings of the Augustan age
and beyond." AB Bookman's Weekly
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Other Books: For
Children
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Bodies
from the Ash tells
the story of the victims of Pompeii. After Mt. Vesuvius 
erupted on August
24 and 25, AD 79, Pompeii lay buried until 12 feet of volcanic ash and
debris for the next 1700 years. Some attempts were made to excavate the
town, but no one was certain of its exact location. Finally, in the
mid-1700s, the town was rediscovered. Along with the desired treasures
(statues, marble, jewelry) that excavators sought for wealthy patrons,
workers also uncovered many skeletons of people who could not escape. At
first, these skeletons were placed in locations within the Pompeian ruins
as curiosity objects. Later, under the direction of Giuseppe Fiorelli, the
hollow space around some skeletons was used as a mold. Workers poured
plaster of Paris into the cavity; when the outer shell of the mold
was chipped away, the plaster body of a person remained—an imprint of
that person’s last moment alive. By
studying these individuals and the possessions that they had with them,
Fiorelli and later scientists attempted to piece together their stories.
Some 50 photographs illustrate the
book, many of them rare and many from the photography archives of the
Pompeii Archaeological Site.
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Ashen
Sky: The Letters of Pliny The Younger on the Eruption of Vesuvius
a well-illustrated version of the letters which offer the only eyewitness
account to have survived the eruption
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Pompeii
(Roman World)
takes young readers into the real world of
Pompeiians: their homes (furniture, jewelry, clothing) and their
shops and other buildings, including the gladiators' arena.
Well-illustrated.
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In
Search of Pompeii covers the territory
of Pompeii with well-crafted drawings.
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Pompeii...Buried
Alive! (Step-Into-Reading, Step 4)
is a good introduction for
beginning readers who want to know about the famous tragedy.
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The
Pirates of Pompeii is part of the Roman
Mysteries fiction series. This fast paced book will appeal to kids who
like their history in more dramatic doses.
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Escape
from Pompeii
gives a shorter fictional account of the tragedy at Pompeii with
vivid illustrations. Amazon says:
"this
story makes an exciting introduction to a fascinating subject."
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- Two books by Mary Pope Osborne
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Pompeii:
Lost and Found A
perfect introduction to Pompeii for children in grades 2-4.
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Vacation
Under The Volcano
A fanciful look at Pompeii for kids
who enjoy the Magic Treehouse series.
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 The
Buried City of Pompeii: Picture Book
A compelling
account, partly told in an imaginary first-person of the two days
that Vesuvius erupted. Many factual sidebars are included,
bringing kids up-to-date with the latest research. Excellent photos
and drawings enhance the text.
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Periodicals about
Pompeii
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National Geographic (March
2006) Huge
Vesuvius Eruption Buried Town 2,000 Years Before Pompeii
National Geographic: Volcanoes,
Forces of Nature
Antiques Digest: The
great disaster on August 24, A.D. 79
BBC News: Rare
Pompeii dinner set unveiled
Pompeii's
Cool Spots Offer Volcano Tips
(Discovery Channel)
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