I am looking for a good book series to read up on the Roman Empire. I have read the book section of the FAQ
https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/wiki/books/europe#wiki_ancient_rome
However, I still have a few questions. For one, I am looking for a series that spans the entire Western Empire duration. I am very ignorant when it comes to the very early and very late days of the Western Empire. The book list contains various books that focuses on both of these topics, however often from different authors. Is there no one author that wrote about the entire period? I always assumed authors would try and cover the entire duration, since it would be nice to get one consistent author when talking about one subject
Also the book lists spans several decades of various publications. Are all of these still highly respected works or have some of them aged or since been disregarded?
Also, I would also like to ask about the nature of the book itself. I am no history student, but more of an enthusiast. So I am not looking for a book that will quickly bore me, nor a book that could be titled "Roman History for Dummies". So I would ask, which book would you recommend that does not lose itself in detail, yet gives more information then just very broad statements?
You have a few options, but whether they meet your exact standards I'm not sure.
The works on the wiki reading list are all still good. Some of the older ones might be a bit out-dated, but will still give you a good grounding in the subject.
If you want a single author's view, Mary Beard's new book called SPQR comes very highly recommended. I've not read it myself, but so far I haven't seen a bad review for this one, and everything else I've read by her has been excellent.
Another single volume history of the whole Roman period, and the one I put on reading lists for introductory courses, is Le Glay et al 2009 A History of Rome. Make sure you get the 4th edition - it's the most recent and therefore the most up-to-date.
If you want a series, I think you'll have to go for multi-authored ones. The 1000+ year sweep of Roman history is too much for one person to do in detail, and historians tend to specialise in smaller sections of the period, meaning few have the expertise to cover the whole lot. The Routledge History of the Ancient World is good, and covers the Roman period in 4-5 volumes, listed here.
Hope this helps - let me know which you choose!