No sweeping history of Rome, The Twelve Caesars is a focused study of character and action, offering the outrageous lives of the first-century Roman emperors in all their racy detail. After reading about Tiberius's sexual improprieties, Caligula's orgies, and Nero's gross extravagances (not to mention innumerable vicious murders), you may view our current leaders' peccadillos in a whole new light.

[Editor's Note: This volume was translated by Robert Graves, who also wrote an excellent collection of Greek myths.]

Nate Grover