The latest book releases for curious minds

ROMANS MAGNIFIED

ZOOM IN ON EVERYDAY ROMAN LIFE

AUTHOR DAVID LONG

ILLUSTRATOR DANIEL ŠPAČEK

PUBLISHER WIDE EYED EDITIONS

PRICE £16.99 / $26

RELEASE OUT NOW

This is a Roman history book for younger readers, but to call Romans Magnified just that would be to do it a great disservice. Riffing off the Where’s Wally series of illustrated books – or Where’s Waldo if you’re in North America – Romans Magnified brings history to a new level of interactivity that we’d argue is necessary to properly engage students of a certain age. A different facet of life in ancient Rome is explored on each new spread via a short section of introductory text and a highly detailed comic illustration – everything from the senate and a map of the Roman Empire to the Roman navy, a villa and the world-famous gladiatorial arena that is the Colosseum.

With each new scene there are ten things to spot, which is where the Where’s Wally comparisons feel particularly appropriate. The reader pores over Špaček’s meticulous illustrations to find tiny, historically accurate details of Roman life. If the reader is struggling, the solutions are next to the glossary at the back of the book. There’s a gimmick with this: the physical edition of Romans Magnified comes with a little magnifying glass so that the reader can literally bring the illustrations off the page. Not that the book needs this extra interactive element, but scouring the pages with a magnifying glass takes the experience to the next level.