The fifty best winter reads

The Independent lined up a panel to select the fifty best winter reads.

One title to make the grade:

Pompeii: The Life of a Roman Town by Mary Beard

'The author elegantly brings to life the town under the shadow of the volcano with scholarly wit and a deep knowledge,' says David [Miller, director of literary agency Rogers, Coleridge & White Ltd]. The reader is transported to the Roman town where the streets, baths and shops teem with character.

Read about another book on the list.

Pompeii: The Life of a Roman Town (US title: The Fires of Vesuvius) also appears among Jamie Merrill's ten best history books.

The Page 99 Test: The Fires of Vesuvius.

--Marshal Zeringue