Literary Review
"Roman roads run everywhere, and Fletcher has been on most of them. It has been her labor of love to crisscross an entire continent. Fletcher's book is an exemplar of history as a travelogue. It presents a familiar panorama—of Europe since antiquity—but from an unfamiliar, even original perspective. The roads themselves are Fletcher's stars: sources of prosperity but also danger, stages on which to compete for and assert status, vectors of destiny that take men from where they cannot stay to where they must go. The camaraderie she generates with fellow travelers, dead as well as living, engages and inspires."
Ross King
"Catherine Fletcher’s mastery of history and storytelling converge beautifully in this captivating exploration of the Roman roads. She expertly leads us on a journey that reaches from Rome to Spain to Constantinople, and from the remote past into the present. A must-read for tourists and armchair travelers alike."
Michael Scott
"This is history quite literally following in the footsteps of the past: covering and uncovering the ways in which the Roman road network has become part of the DNA of every society since. It’s a magical and informative ode to the majesty and mystical power of the humble roadway."
Richard Bosworth
"In her magnificently imagined and vividly composed book, Catherine Fletcher gives new meaning to the word journeyman (these days journeyperson). Among her pages, we journey the thousands of miles of Roman roads from 500 BCE to the present and are never made timeless or homeless. Fletcher offers us justification for an infinity of plannable holidays or long hours of cozy reading at home. All readers should direct themselves to her Romes."
Kelcey Wilson-Lee
"The Roads to Rome is a vibrant, enchanting and rich compendium. Catherine Fletcher is an essential guide to the many hidden layers of history beneath our feet."
Helena Attlee
"Past and present cleverly entwine in Catherine Fletcher’s erudite, entertaining and infinitely readable journey along the roads that stitch Europe’s history together."
The Times (UK)
"Elegantly plotted. It is no easy task to condense 25 centuries of history into 300 pages and Fletcher, whose area of expertise is Renaissance Europe, rises to the challenge. For modern Grand Tourists, Fletcher’s book will provide an enjoyable distraction when the journey to Rome gets dull."
New Statesman
"[A] rich narrative of the long afterlife of Rome's roads."
Judith Herrin
"With verve and expertise, Catherine Fletcher has tramped the far-flung Roman roads of Europe and created a delightful, novel and authoritative history from the ground up."
Observer
"Epic and witty. Fletcher is a thoroughly enjoyable narrator because she peppers her learned prose with wry humor, first-person asides, and comparisons between past and present. The Roads to Rome is a nuanced and perceptive book that interrogates 'the stories that we tell ourselves about who we are'"
The Los Angeles Review of Books
"Fletcher recounts Alessandro de’ Medici's life, and even more so the times, in clear and often vivid prose with an eye for interesting detail.
Diarmaid MacCulloch
"This is an accomplished and original account of an extraordinary and much misrepresented episode in Italian history. Fletcher provides a newly sympathetic portrait of a monarch whose rule in Florence was even more unlikely than Henry VII's presence on the English throne.
Ian Mortimer
"A scintillating book that glisters and gleams with stabbings, poisonings, adultery and intrigue—and a startling reminder of how visceral and dangerous Renaissance Florence was. The drama of events is perfectly complemented by careful scholarship and lucid writing. This is everything a historical biography should be.
Daisy Dunn
Praise for Catherine Fletcher’s The Black Prince of Florence:
"Bold, breathless, and full of suspense.
The Financial Times
"Her narrative follows the extraordinary arc of Alessandro's life closely, but also uses it to illuminate the bloody opulence of Renaissance Italian politics in all its squalid, operatic glory.
Hilary Mantel
"Nothing in sixteenth century history is more astonishing to our era than the career of Alessandro de' Medici. His story, told by an exact and fluent historian, challenges our preconceptions. Catherine Fletcher's eye for the skewering detail makes the citizens of renaissance Florence live again: courtesans and cardinals, artists and assassins.
Dan Jones
"Packed with intrigue. Fletcher describes with cool menace the plotting and politicking that dominated Alessandro's rule... brought splendidly to life in this excellent book.
The Economist
"A gripping narrative. It is impossible to finish this medieval melodrama without thinking that it would make a riveting series for an enterprising TV producer.
