Garrett Ryan's Collection of Statues Featuring Nude Figures, Plump Gladiators, and Majestic War Elephants

Nick Leone: As a layperson with an interest in Greek/Roman history I became enamored with Dr. Ryan from binge watching his Youtube channel, Toldinstone. His interest in ancient history is very exceedingly extreme as obtaining a PhD in any subject requires. My interest is only mildly extreme and my lack of education will qualify this claim. In his videos he has a somewhat condescending and sardonic delivery which I find utterly hilarious as well as informative. Disappointingly he does not employ this attitude in the book. His writing is straight forward, simple, and accessible. Nevertheless, it is also informative and his sense of humor is not lost. If you are, seriously, not that serious about history this book will provide a fun overview of historical subjects normally omitted from discussion. And if you are a serious historian this book will provide a wealth of additional reading material from its footnotes. Give this man your money so that he will author more books and create more videos.

United States on Sep 05, 2023

John J. Hagerty: I've been a fan of Dr. Ryan's YouTube channel "toldinstone" almost from the beginning. His casual delivery belies the incredible depth of expertise he possesses on the subject (which he teaches at the university level). The nature of each chapter humanizes the ancients (mostly Romans, but also the Greeks) to the point that you feel they are a current civilization that you could book a flight to go visit. You can do that, of course, but you'd be a little late to the party.

Good news for those wanting to know more, he as a second book due out in October! (I've already pre-ordered, naturally).

United States on Aug 27, 2023

persephone: Xmas gift for my brother. He loved it!

United States on Aug 14, 2023

Richard: As a geek and amateur in Roman history, this book lit up about a thousand buttons in my mind's eye. Fun. Informative, giggly, and delightful details.

United States on Aug 04, 2023

Ari M. Rutenberg: This is how history should be written, fun, funny, informative. It gives you the answers to the questions you’ve always had about the classical world. If teachers want kids to be interested in this time period, they should make this one mandatory reading.

United States on May 29, 2023

Ronnie Foster: The concise and steady delivery of information kept me interested and has genuinely given me a real interest in this type of history. This is a great book if you’re trying to find a topic to fire up a passion for ancient classics history.

United Kingdom on Jan 21, 2023

Michael Hoffmann: A fun book, with some things you probably didn't know about the old Greeks and Romans.

There's overlap with the material presented on the author's YouTube channel, but there's also some added information. I just wish the author wasn't monetising his channel so much. With a felt third of the videos now spruiking some sponsor, they are starting to become unwatchable.

Read the book instead, at least you won't get ads in there!

Australia on Nov 03, 2022

Angelo: This book really contextualises what it was like for all sorts of people to live within the city of Rome and the roman empire during the ancient period.
I really like the way the book starts with a brief history of the ancient period to give some wider context. The book does a great job of filling in how people lived their daily lives during this time.

United Kingdom on Aug 06, 2022

Ross Duncan: Couldn’t recommend this book enough for someone who’s in to greek and Roman history. It goes in depth but can still easily be read by someone who’s never read a history book before. It’s great for all ages. I would also recommend the authors YouTube channel, he has some great accompanying videos as well.

United Kingdom on Mar 05, 2022

Jack Fairweather: This book is ABSOLUTELY fantastic and that is just one way to sum it up. Garret Ryan really went above and beyond with this book and overall published something that has managed to keep me captivated from start to finish. The wide variety of questions keep you knowledgeable in an interesting yet fun way. This book was well worth the purchase and certainly the wait after pre ordering it in early October. Highly recommend this to anyone looking for uncommon and pretty unique questions and answers in regards to the Greeks and Romans.

United Kingdom on Nov 25, 2021