Ferdinand (Ferdie) Addis is an English non-fiction and history author. Following three short books for Michael O'Mara, he published Rome: Eternal City (2018), his first full-length work of non-fiction.
Ferdie Addis has loved classics since he first got his hands on a picture book version of the Odyssey aged four. After a degree in Greek and Latin at Oxford University and a brief stint as a researcher for TV documentaries, he went back to where he started, reading and writing about the myths and legends of the ancient world.
He has written The Good Samaritan Bites the Dust (2011), I Have a Dream (2011), and Opening Pandora’s Box (2010) for Michael O’Mara Books.
In Rome: Eternal City, Addis set 3,000 years of the city’s history into 648 pages. He presents himself as just another tourist and his project as a labor of love and curiosity rather than a scientific experience, but the result is highly original research.
Ferdinand Addis traces the history of the Eternal City through key moments in its history: from the mythic founding of Rome in 753 BC, via such landmarks as the killing of Caesar in 44 BC, the coronation of Charlemagne in AD 800, the painting of the Sistine chapel, Mussolini's March on Rome of 1922 and the release of Fellini's La Dolce Vita in 1960. In each chapter, the larger historical narrative is skilfully interwoven with cultural developments.
As a result, the book received good reviews from critics.
Ferdinand Addis lives in London with his wife and daughter.
