Rome Tales

Presenting a vivid mosaic of dramatic, comic, and tragic stories, all set in the Eternal City, these twenty absorbing tales capture the delight of discovering and exploring one of the world's most beloved cities. Spanning seven hundred years, this marvelous collection includes works by Italian authors ranging from Boccaccio and Casanova to Pier Paolo Pasolini and Alberto Moravia. Rather than being ordered chronologically, old and new appear alongside one another, reflecting the dual identity of Rome as both an ancient city that is one of the wonders of the world, and a thriving, modern metropolis. The tales are wonderfully varied in style, tone, and subject matter: a notorious Spanish prostitute in Renaissance Rome endures a public hiding without flinching; Pope John Paul II uncovers a vast conspiracy against him; a medieval revolutionary demagogue suffers almost the same fate as Mussolini. Each story is illustrated with a black-and-white photograph and there is a map of Rome to help readers locate the sites featured in the text.

Helen Constantine has published many volumes of translated stories, and edits the international magazine Modern Poetry in Translation. Hugh Shankland lived several years in Rome before founding and heading the Italian department at Durham University.