Loved this book! Fascinating. Who would imagine. Very well written. ( )

This book was an unexpected surprise and pleasure to read. Although a nonfiction text about a 2000 year old vase may sound mind-numbingly dull, Brooks was successful in creating a narrative placing the vase within the both social and economic contexts which made the work highly readable. ( )

May I start by saying: If you're interested in art from Classical Greece or Rome, place this on your TBR list now.

And now that you've cursed me for making your list longer, let me tell you why you want to read it! First, you may be wondering "how can someone sustain an entire book about one tiny little vase"? Quite easily, in fact.

The Portland Vase went through many hands before ending up in the British Museum, and the book details them all in chronological order using an anecdotal approach that makes the book very readable for the non-expert.

Brooks also takes the time to explain the various competing theories on the iconography of the vase (the debate is ongoing, in fact); its reconstruction after being broken on more than one occasion; the attempts at making copies (and the failures); and the ongoing conservation history.

There's a lot to say about this one little vase, and Brooks manages to keep its history light and readable, with enough detail for the scholarly to enjoy, but using layman's terms.

Who knew one vase could have so much history... after its discovery, no less! ( )