The book begins by making the point that it is non-judgemental and does not intend to come down in favour of either Ancient Rome or Modern America. It intends to provide arguments and reasoning to allow the reader to make his/her own judgements. The author begins by asking the reader to question what is understood by 'progress'. Guglielmo Ferrero (1871-1942) was an Italian historian, journalist and novelist, who devoted his writings to classical liberalism. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature twenty times in six years.