From what I can gather the book seems to be a coffee table book. The art was nice and the layout was good. Though I would question some of the sections that would take up a page between the main body of the text. Often rather than adding to the subject being discussed, it interrupted the flow. Once done, I often found that I had to re-read the previous section to refresh my memory.

It's not a book I would read cover to cover again. Its something you would peruse on the off chance. Due to the formatting, I would also probably not recommend it as a beginner text. It's okay at best. It's aesthetically pleasing, but there are better books out there for someone who wishes to learn about roman mythology.

I really enjoyed this book.
It had just the right amount of detail with extra tidbits of information.
It was informative and non biased, cutting through the noise to get down to the facts and theories.
It takes you step by step through the more popular myths with eye catching pictures and photos.
This would be suited for teens and YAs wanting a reference guide to Roman Mythology.

This was a very good book packed full of brilliant and interesting information and facts. I learnt so much from reading it that it made me so happy. I just loved all the pictures that accompanied the text. With some fantastic artwork that really brought that extra dimension to the book. What I found very interesting was that alot of roman and Greek mythology is the same so who robbed it of who. Knowing the Romans a little im sure they just borrowed it lol. I found the section on God's brilliant as I knew Romans followed a lot but having that extra information was just great as they were explaining backed pictures so well. I really do recommend this book if you are interested in learning more about Roman mythology. I found it funny how I already knew of some stories and hadn't associated them with the Romans. 

It was a perfect blend of facts to pictures to make for a very good read.

So much praise goes out to the author and publishers for creating this very informative and interesting book. That will look great on anyone's coffee table or bookcase.

The above review has already been placed on goodreads, waterstones, Google books, Barnes&noble, kobo, amazon UK where found and my blog https://ladyreading365.wixsite.com/website/post/roman-myths-by-martin-j-dougherty-amber-books-4-stars either under my name or ladyreading365

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for offering me the chance to read this book!
As an archaeology student with knowledge on Greek mythology but very limited study of Roman mythology, I found this book to be a great introduction to it!
Easy and enjoyable to read, but still providing quite a few facts and referencing the different versions of myths. Also, providing a good understanding on the connection of mythology and history, as well as its effect on the structure of the society!
The pictures apart from making the book very beautiful, perfectly matched the provided text and were both helpful and aesthetic!
All in all, a great introduction to Roman mythology!

Thank you for the chance to read and review this book!

The book is a great coffee table book or one to give a reader who doesn’t know much about roman (or greek) mythology. If you do know a bit then this book might be too surface level for you. It slightly bored me for this reason.

The art included is really good and I think that makes it worthwhile as a present or even something to add to your bookshelf!

Much more than I expected…

I was completely enthralled with this read. Not only did it cover Roman mythology but also how it was intertwined into everyday life and how it became part of Roman history. Romulus and Remus – one of the first myths I remember learning – remains a sentimental favourite and where this journey began. With beautiful, stunning really, illustrations and artwork, their story and the birth of Rome came to life…

Not a dry textbook, but instead a colorful, well-written journey through what was real, what wasn’t and what lay between the two. History should be black and white but that is usually never the case, is it? Few can agree on all the details and interpretations color any perspective. Here was a methodical, chronological, walk through it all.

Highly entertaining, I read the e-book but have the hardcover now on my wish list. The visuals were amazing – colorful, full of detail and life - and I can’t wait to view and reread it all over again!

If you love history and mythology, or simply a beautiful and interesting read, I would highly recommend.

This interesting book covers a lot of ground and provides a lot of detail about the many, many Roman gods and heroes, and how these fitted into Roman life. It contains many photographs of relevant artwork etc., and is a well-presented book that is good to dip into for a few pages, or to read cover to cover.

With thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in return for an honest review.

"Roman Myths" by Martin J. Dougherty was fascinatingly informative. The Roman empire is well known for multiple foundations of modern western civilization. Well known examples include engineering projects that last millennia, philosophy, literature, military strategy, and governmental approaches such as democracy, Even though the tales of Roman gods and mythology are also well known and clearly permeate Western culture, until reading this book I didn't realize both how foundational these are, and simultaneously how alien Roman culture was!

First, the alien side of Roman culture, it is not surprising that they worshiped multiple gods. Yet, I was surprised at how deeply this was a part of daily life. Apparently, ongoing worship and sacrifices to the many gods was considered a part of daily life for both countries, the military, businesses, and individuals from the lowest to the highest. Cities had multiple temples to the various gods, each of whom constantly demanded attention or there may be godly punishment. This aspect of Roman culture absolutely feels at odds with the image of the modern scientific side of Roman civilization. Also surprisingly, they apparently had no concept of either a work week with weekends off nor planned vacation days. H0wever, this was more than overcome by many festivals to the appease these gods. From the descriptions in this book, it seems that the Romans had many many more work holidays than the modern Western worker. Even more amazing was the use of preemptive religious worship as a military weapon where the Romans established temples to gods indigenous to their enemies and proceeded to "out-worship" their enemies to achieve military victory with the assistance of these indigenous gods!

Regarding how familiar the Roman gods seem to the modern reader, I was surprised to learn that Flora and Fauna are actually the roman gods of flowers and animals. Similarly, I was surprised to learn that Nemesis is the goddess of retribution!

Although this book is liberally decorated with historical art, it is an insightful text that offers an informative view into the religious views of the ancient Roman people.

I absolutely recommend this book to anyone even remotely interested in Roman culture, as well as those that want to learn more about the foundations of modern Western culture.

I thank Martin J. Dougherty and Amber Books for kindly providing a temporary electronic review copy of this work.

In a similar way to a sister book (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4814522286), regarding English and British myth, this does not so much tell the stories, but tells the stories of the stories. So don't come here for an Ovidian look at all the quirks and characters of Roman myth, or a new retelling of all Jupiter's little shenanigans with women he wasn't married to. Instead, as we see with the initial talk of prehistory that applies to the whole world as well as just central Italy, we get a history lesson.

So yes, we do learn things from within the stories – certainly Hercules' many labours are presented, albeit in blunt and unadorned form, and the Argonauts have a spell to their own later on, but this book talks of who was worshipping these gods and other entities, where their stories first came from, and who was (many centuries later) writing about such things and keeping them so prominent in our mind today.

Such a dry-sounding thing is definitely not that, and that only partly due to the wonderful picture research and selection, packing many of the pages out with classical representations, sculptures and paintings alike, of all the events of the legends. So you do get a sense of the folkloric tales' contents, but definitely the knowledge needed to understand why they came about, and a mind focused on those writing, reciting and worshipping in accordance with them. A strong four stars.

Roman Myths by Martin J Dougherty provides the reader with an informative journey through the history of Rome with a focus on Roman Mythology. I really enjoyed the fact this book didn’t only discuss Mythology as it can become a little too ‘unreal’ – however, the author here also talks about real Roman history and weaves mythology into the events, days, and lives of Rome during antiquity.

In addition to this, and this is something that always gets me a little animated, is this book contains brilliant visuals. The photos of artefacts and paintings dispersed throughout this piece are numerous, illuminating and are high quality.

The link with Greek Mythology (The Greeks called him Zeus and us Romans called him Jupiter) is clearly described, but the Romans also had lots of other deities they prayed to – like gods of entries, windows – you name it. Fascinating stuff. Imagine trying to leave for work on time: Packed lunch ✔, keys to the chariot ✔, feed the dogs ✔, then pray to the Gods of plants, doors, food, honey, the seasons, disease (blight) to name a few. You’d have trouble getting to work by home time!

The book ends by reminding us of the influence of mythology on us modern day people – e.g., the names of the planets, constellations and even things like rockets we send into space.

If you look carefully, you’ll see the influence of mythology all around us. This was really enjoyable.

I enjoyed reading this book a lot! We all know more or less about Roman and Greek mythology, but we mix the names of gods or have varying knowledge of them. This book explains the reasons behind that and lets one see mythology as something that evolved and changed over time. It was a quick and easy read, and I loved it greatly!

Lovely book covering early Roman history and legends (based on Livy), Roman mythology and writings including the epic Aeneid, and even touching on influences on modern-day things. The full-colour pictures are very nice on the eyes and add depth and authenticity to the text. An excellent reference for anyone with an interest in ancient Rome, history and classical literature!

An excellent book that offers a focused history, while not cutting on the depth of exploration offered to Roman Myth. It takes the reader by the eye with solid visual design, using the layout to present information in a digestible manner. If you have a strong interest in myth, or your store and clientele do, this is an easy recommendation.

As someone who is already well read on the myths of ancient societies I had decided to read this book just out of curiosity as to whether it was covered well, which I can assure you dear readers it was. The photos, whilst not needed, made an excellent addition, and the myths were developed quite well, and with a little background in each case too. I would definitely recommend for anyone interested in mythology

Fantastic accounts of myths and legends. I had a lot of fun reading this book and learning about Roman mythology.

Thuis is a great text! It's full of photographs and art to complement the passages. The first thing that stood out to me is the use of BCE and CE, rather than BC and AD. I really appreciated that. I also quite enjoyed the writing style. While this is an informative and educational text, it is not written in the typical, dry, boring way many textbooks are.

I loved that it was comprehensive and chronological, and explained things in an easy to understand way. This makes it perfect for someone lacking a background in Roman history. I also think the inclusion of art was a great idea. It not only offers a visualization to accompany the text, it also means this book covers Art History as well.

I would recommend this book for anyone interested in Ancient Roman History, Art History, or Mythology. The knowledge of mythology is even important for those interested in art, as mythology greatly influenced the art world. This can both be seen in the remaining artifacts of ancient rome, such as sculptures of gods and goddesses, and in the influence of later works, such neoclassical art.

This text would be appropriate for secondary students and college level students. I will likely include this in my child's classical homeschool curriculum. I'm eager to explore other texts written by this author.

A good introduction to Roman mythology and a book full of great pictures.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

This was a wonderful read that introduces a wide and overarching explanation of Roman mythos as we know it. Perfect for people who are newly interested; it’s thorough enough for those who are new or familiar with the subject. The format of the book also needs to be commented on. Not only was it full of beautiful imagery, but it was presented in such a way that was not overwhelmed with information, but instead inviting to the viewer. Another gorgeous book added to my “To-Buy” pile.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to review this eARC.