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Hippocrene Insiders' Guide to Rome

In the introduction, Frances asks about Rome: "Why is its fame so enduring? What is its fascination?" She writes: "The book does not pretend to tell you why Rome is so eternally seductive. Its author hopes you will let it lead you to places and situations where you can feel the eternal pull itself and perhaps inspire you to figure out why Rome is so special."

 

"A real coup for foreigners who work or study in Rome is to be invited into a Romano's house. The invitation can take years in the coming. Or it might never come....

 

"For those who might not have not have years to learn the secrets of Rome, this book gives some insights into the city -- how it has lived through the centuries and how it is lived now -- so that visitors might have at least an insider's glimpse into the soul of Rome and a lasting impression of the eternal city."

 

A chapter entitled "Flowing through the Centuries" begins thus : "If Rome's fountains could talk, what good gossip we'd hear -- the legends of the piazzas they crown, the vanities of the men who ordered them and those who carved them, the grumbling they inspired (some popes taxed Romans heavily to pay for their construction)..."