Gladiators lived a short, bloody life. Forced to fight in the Colosseum, gladiators trained hard in prison-like schools to survive in the arena. Put on a good show for the Roman crowds and you might just live to fight another day. Struggling and reluctant readers will be fascinated to learn awesome, disgusting, and unusual facts about the different fighting styles and weapons of gladiators and famous fighters such as Spartacus. Carefully leveled text will have kids squirming with delight as they rush to share wacky facts with their friends. Illustrations mixed with historical art and sidebars keep kids engaged. A table of contents, glossary with pronunciations, further resources, and an index all enhance comprehension.