The Storm Before The Storm by Mike Duncan

Rating: 3 of 5

I discovered “The Storm Before the Storm” after listening to Mike Duncan’s excellent History of Rome Podcast.
I’ve not yet finished the podcast and I am on episode 144 of 181. Having listened to most of the History of Rome I decided to give “The Storm” a try. “The Storm” is not a book a would typically read. I will read an occasional memoir but I can’t say ancient history is my interest. The History of Rome Podcast has been something I’ve largely enjoyed as it helps one escape from all the noise of the present and spend some time in the past. Based on this I decided to read “The Storm”.

Overall I found “The Storm” to be a little dry. The first half of the book is pretty slow and I’m not sure I could really keep track of all the characters and unfamiliar names that floated through the book. I would recommend that a reader listen to the “History of Rome” podcast on the late republic first and then tackle “The Storm” as that will give you some grounding in time and place. I found that the two works are complementary and I didn’t feel any of the story of the “The Storm” was less enjoyable after having listened to the podcast a few months before.

I liked the later chapters in the book more then the earlier ones. I believe that Mike painted a pretty good portrait of Sulla and Marias and I enjoyed getting greater detail on their history and some of Mike’s perceptions of what their personalities were like leaked through in the writing which gave them a more human perspective.

Some people look back at Roman history and try to relate it to US history. Having read this book I find that approach deeply flawed. The Roman society was a completely different time and place then the present. Although I found Rome and its chronic civil wars interesting, I did not find it much related to the present day. There’s some common themes like concepts of inequality and the breakdown of social norms but these can be found in most times of social upheaval. Its not clear that that Roman republic is unique.

The purpose of this book though is not really as a piece of comparative politics. Mike Duncan mostly sticks to just reciting history and does not spend much time interpreting it. I think that makes it a better book as a historical work but I think it causes it to be missing a “human” element which could of made the story more engaging.

I strongly recommend The Storm to people who are topically interested in this type of book, but my recommendation is weaker if you don’t typically consume popular history books. Its not a bad change of pace book for someone who doesn’t read the genera as overall the book is pretty well written and easy to understand. I did not have a difficult time mostly consuming the book late at night before bed. However, I do caution this is most a dry “history as we think it probably was” without a lot of embellishment which some readers may find pretty boring.