Ancient Rome

Review also includes:

Dinosaur, Dougal Dixon, 978-0751368215

Two new titles in DK’s ‘Revealed’ series which combine peel-back acetate pages with computer-generated images. These are bold and colourful information books in their own right, written by authors with strong track records, backed by consultants with the right credentials. The four acetate leaves in each volume certainly provide an extra dimension, revealing the Pompeii street buried beneath the volcanic ash, or populating the ruined Coliseum with gladiators and spectators. The special photography of re-enactment scenes combined with computer-imaging is painstakingly stitched together to provide a kind of photorealism for a visually sophisticated audience brought up on the films of Speilberg and BBC’s ‘Walking with Dinosaurs’. It works most successfully in Dinosaur, especially when used to show how palaeontologists put flesh on the bones of a fossil skeleton, recreating skin markings and body movements, though personally I find there is something unsettling about the human figures hovering spookily above the mosaic floors in Ancient Rome. Children however will love the novelty element, which is put to good use in both these titles. Great value at £7.99, look out for other titles in the series on Egypt, Greece, the human body and oceans.