Ancient, classical and medieval texts Books
HarperCollins Publishers Republic
Book SynopsisHarperCollins is proud to present its incredible range of best-loved, essential classics.
£5.62
HarperCollins Publishers Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali
Book SynopsisBKS Iyengar's translation and commentary on these ancient yoga sutras has been described as the "bible" of yoga.This new edition of the classic text contains a new introduction by BKS Iyengar, as well as a foreword by Godfrey Devereux, author of Dynamic Yoga.Trade Review“Patanjali's Yoga Sutras is the bible of yoga…”Godfrey Devereux “BKS Iyengar is renowned throughout the world… his inspired commentary on the ageless treatise by the ancient sage speaks to the soul of every dedicated yogi."Phil Catalfo, Yoga Journal
£17.09
HarperCollins Publishers Letters from a Stoic
Book SynopsisHarperCollins is proud to present its incredible range of best-loved, essential classics.
£5.62
Wordsworth Editions Ltd The Iliad and the Odyssey
Book SynopsisTranslated by George Chapman, with Introductions by Jan Parker. Hector bidding farewell to his wife and baby son, Odysseus bound to the mast listening to the Sirens, Penelope at the loom, Achilles dragging Hector's body round the walls of Troy - scenes from Homer have been reportrayed in every generation. The questions about mortality and identity that Homer's heroes ask, the bonds of love, respect and fellowship that motivate them, have gripped audiences for three millennia. Chapman's Iliad and Odyssey are great English epic poems, but they are also two of the liveliest and readable translations of Homer. Chapman's freshness makes the everyday world of nature and the craftsman as vivid as the battlefield and Mount Olympus. His poetry is driven by the excitement of the Renaissance discovery of classical civilisation as at once vital and distant, and is enriched by the perspectives of humanist thought.
£5.90
Faber & Faber Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Book SynopsisWhen a mysterious green knight arrives unbidden at Camelot one Christmas, only the young and inexperienced Gawain is brave or foolhardy enough to take up his challenge . . .This story, first told in the late fourteenth century, is one of the most enthralling, enigmatic and beloved poems in the English language. Simon Armitage''s version is meticulously responsive to the tact, sophistication and dramatic intensity of the original. It is as if, six hundred years apart, two poets set out on a journey through the same mesmeric landscape physical, allegorical and acoustic in the course of which the Gawain poet has finally found his true translator.The poem''s key episodes have been visualised into a series of bold, richly textured screen-prints by British artist Clive Hicks-Jenkins. They are reproduced here, alongside Armitage''s revised text, to create a special edition of this marvellous classic.
£17.09
Oxford University Press The Complete Writings
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£10.44
University of California Press The Iliad and the Odyssey Boxed Set
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£39.90
Pan Macmillan Tao Te Ching
Book SynopsisLao Tzu's Tao Te Ching is the source of Zen Buddhism, and is probably the most broadly influential spiritual text in human history.Complete & Unabridged. Part of the Macmillan Collector’s Library; a series of stunning, cloth-bound, pocket-sized classics with gold foiled edges and ribbon markers. These beautiful books make perfect gifts or a treat for any book lover. This edition is translated and introduced by David Hinton. Fluent in ancient Chinese and an acclaimed poet, he skilfully reveals how remarkably current and even innovative this text is after 2500 years.According to legend, Lao Tzu left China at the age of eighty, saddened that men would not follow the path to natural goodness. At the border with Tibet, a guard asked him to record his teachings and the Tao Te Ching is what he wrote down before leaving. Lao Tzu's spirituality describes the Cosmos as a harmonious and generative organism, and it shows how the human is an integral part of that cosmos.
£10.44
Penguin Books Ltd Discourses and Selected Writings
Book SynopsisThe Discourses/Fragments/Enchiridion''I must die. But must I die bawling?''Epictetus, a Greek Stoic and freed slave, ran a thriving philosophy school in Nicopolis in the early second century AD. His animated discussions were celebrated for their rhetorical wizardry and were written down by Arrian, his most famous pupil. The Discourses argue that happiness lies in learning to perceive exactly what is in our power to change and what is not, and in embracing our fate to live in harmony with god and nature. In this personal, practical guide to the ethics of Stoicism and moral self-improvement, Epictetus tackles questions of freedom and imprisonment, illness and fear, family, friendship and love.Translated and Edited with an Introduction by Robert DobbinTable of ContentsEpictetusIntroductionFurther ReadingNote on the TranslationThe DiscoursesFragmentsEnchiridionGlossary of NamesNotes
£10.44
HarperCollins Publishers Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained
Book SynopsisHarperCollins is proud to present its new range of best-loved, essential classics.
£5.05
Saqi Books The Sultans Feast
Book SynopsisThe Arabic culinary tradition burst onto the scene in the middle of the tenth century, when al-Warraq compiled a culinary treatise titled al-Kitab al-Tabikh (The Book of Dishes), containing over 600 recipes. However, it would take another three centuries for cookery books to be produced in the European continent. For centuries to come, gastronomic writing would remain the sole preserve of the Arab-Muslim world, with cooking manuals and recipe books being produced from Baghdad, Aleppo and Egypt in the East, to Muslim Spain, Morocco and Tunisia in the West. A total of nine complete cookery books have survived from this time, containing a total of nearly four thousand recipes. The Sultan''s Feast by the Egyptian Ibn Mubarak Shah in the fifteenth century is one such book. Reflecting the importance of gastronomy in Arab culture, this culinary treatise features more than 330 recipes - from bread-making and omelettes, to sweets, pickling and aromatics - and tips on a range of topics, from ess
£22.50
Penguin Books Ltd The Republic
Book SynopsisAn authoritative new translation of Plato's foundational work of Western philosophy The Republic is Plato's masterwork. It was written 2,400 years ago and remains one of the most widely read books in the world, famous for both the richness of its ideas and the virtuosity of its writing. Presented as a dialogue between Plato's teacher Socrates and various interlocutors, it is an exhortation to study philosophy, inviting its readers to reflect on the choices we must make if we are to live the best life available to us. This complex, dynamic work creates a picture of an ideal society governed not money, power, or fame, but by philosophy, wisdom, and justice. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the sTrade Review"Must we not acknowledge...that in each of us there are the same principles and habits which there are in the State; and that from the individual they pass into the State?"What does it mean to be good? What enables us to distinguish right from wrong? And how should human virtues be translated into a just society? These are the questions that Plato sought to answer in this monumental work of moral and political philosophy, a book surpassed only by the Bible in its formative influence on two thousand years of Western thought.In the course of its tautly reasoned Socratic dialogues, The Republic accomplishes nothing less than an anatomy of the soul and an exhaustive description of a State that both mirrors and enforces the soul's ideal harmony. The resulting text is at once mystical and elegantly logical and may be read as a template for the societies in which most of us live today.Vintage Classics are quality paperback editions of the world's greatest written works. They are durably bound and are printed exclusively on acid-free paper.
£10.44
Penguin Books Ltd The Nicomachean Ethics
Book SynopsisAddresses the question of how to live well, and originates the concept of cultivating a virtuous character as the basis of his ethical system. In this title, the author sets out to examine the nature of happiness. It discusses the nature of practical reasoning, the value and the objects of pleasure, and the different forms of friendship.Table of ContentsThe Nicomachean EthicsPrefaceChronologyIntroductionFurther ReadingA Note on the TextSynopsisThe Nicomachean EthicsBook I: The Object of LifeBook II: Moral GoodnessBook III: Moral Responsibility: Two VirtuesBook IV: Other Moral VirtuesBook V: JusticeBook VI: Intellectual VirtuesBook VII: Continence and Incontinence: THe Nature of PleasureBook VIII: The Kinds of FriendshipBook IX: The Grounds of FriendshipBook X: Pleasure and the Life of HappinessAppendix 1: Table of Virtues and VicesAppendix 2: PythagoreanismAppendix 3: The Sophists and SocratesAppendix 4: Plato's Theory of FormsAppendix 5: The CatagoriesAppendix 6: Substance and ChangeAppendix 7: Nature and TheologyAppendix 8: The Practical SyllogismAppendix 9: Pleasure and ProcessAppendix 10: LiturgiesAppendix 11: Aristotle in the Middle AgesGlossary of Greek WordsIndex of NamesSubject Index
£10.44
Penguin Books Ltd The Republic
Book SynopsisPresented in the form of a dialogue between Socrates and three different interlocutors, this book is an enquiry into the notion of a perfect community and the ideal individual within it. It addresses the purpose of education and the role of both women and men as 'guardians' of the people.
£10.44
Saqi Books We Wrote in Symbols
Book SynopsisA ground-breaking collection celebrating women who, over centuries, have dared to articulate their own desires with artistry and skill.Trade Review'Fierce, captivating, revolutionary. A dazzling collection that will win hearts and change minds.'-Elif Shafak; 'These voices are furious, witty, outrageous, tender and entranced. This collection offers much delightful entertainment and fresh perspectives on women and sex in the Middle East.' -Marina Warner
£12.74
Chiltern Publishing Sense and Sensibility: Chiltern Edition
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£17.00
The University of Chicago Press Aristotles Nicomachean Ethics
Book SynopsisThe "Nicomachean Ethics" is one of Aristotle's most widely read and influential works. Drawing on their intimate knowledge of Aristotle's thought, the authors have produced an English-language translation of the "Ethics" that is as faithful to the original as it is graceful in its rendering.Trade Review"[This volume] is much more than a translation. The translators, Robert C. Bartlett... and Susan D. Collins... have provided helpful aids.... [They have] supplied an informative introduction, as well as 'A Note on the Translation,' a bibliography and an outline of the work. All this precedes the main text. Afterward comes a brief 'Overview of the Moral Virtues and Vices,' a very extensive and invaluable glossary, a list of 'Key Greek Terms,' an index of proper names and at last a detailed 'general index.' Together these bring the original text within the compass of every intelligent reader.... Brilliant and readable." (New York Times Book Review)"
£15.00
Oxford University Press Symposium
Book SynopsisIn his celebrated masterpiece, Symposium, Plato imagines a high-society dinner-party in Athens in 416 BC at which the guests - including the comic poet Aristophanes and, of course, Plato''s mentor Socrates - each deliver a short speech in praise of love. The sequence of dazzling speeches culminates in Socrates'' famous account of the views of Diotima, a prophetess who taught him that love is our means of trying to attain goodness. And then into the party bursts the drunken Alcibiades, the most popular and notorious Athenian of the time, who insists on praising Socrates himself rather than love, and gives us a brilliant sketch of this enigmatic character.The power, humour, and pathos of Plato''s creation engages the reader on every page. This new translation is complemented by full explanatory notes and an illuminating introduction. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World''s Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volumTrade Review'In his lucid introduction Waterfield highlights the artistry and subtleties which might elude non-classicists. He emphasises that Plato's Symposium is fun.' Sophia Sackville-West, London Evening Standard
£9.49
HarperCollins Publishers Julius Caesar
Book SynopsisHarperCollins is proud to present its incredible range of best-loved, essential classics.Power, corruption and betrayal are at the heart of Shakespeare's most well-known historical and political drama. As Julius Caesar moves closer to securing power for himself and is perceived by some as a threat to Roman citizens, his senators plot to bring about his downfall. Caesar's assassination leads to civil war rather than peace and the play explores the subsequent deaths of the conspirators Brutus and Cassius.Shakespeare's contemporaries would have spotted the playwright's attempts to use the shift from republican to imperial Rome to highlight the political situation of the Elizabethans at the time. Featuring some of the most powerfully resonant and rousing speeches of any of Shakespeare's plays, Julius Caesar remains one of his most well-loved historical tragedies.
£5.68
Oxford University Press Defence Speeches
Book Synopsis''But I must stop now. I can no longer speak for tears - and my client has ordered that tears are not to be used in his defence.''Cicero (106-43 BC) was the greatest orator of the ancient world: he dominated the Roman courts, usually appearing for the defence. His speeches are masterpieces of persuasion: compellingly written, emotionally powerful, and somtimes hilariously funny. This book presents five of his most famous defences: of Roscius, falsely accused of murdering his father; of the consul-elect Murena, accused of electoral bribery; of the poet Archias, on a citizenshiup charge; of Caelius, ex-lover of Clodia Metelli, on charges of violence; and of Milo, for mudering Cicero''s hated enemy Clodius. Cicero''s clients were rarely whiter-than-white; but so seductive is his oratory that the reader cannot help taking his side. In these speeches we are plunged into some of the most exciting courtroom dramas of all time.These new translations preserve Cicero''s literary artistry and emotional force, and achieve new standards of accuracy. Each speech has its own introduction, and a general introduction discusses Cicero''s public career and the criminal courts. The substantial explanatory notes guide the reader through the speeches, and offer new scholarship presented in a clear way.
£10.44
Penguin Books Ltd The Nicomachean Ethics
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£10.44
Oxford University Press Phaedo
Book SynopsisThe Phaedo is acknowledged to be one of Plato''s greatest masterpieces, showing him both as a philosopher and as a dramatist at the height of his powers. For its moving account of the execution of Socrates, the Phaedo ranks among the supreme literary achievements of antiquity. It is also a seminal document for many ideas deeply ingrained in western culture, and provides one of the best introductions to Plato''s thought. This new edition is a revised version of the Clarendon Press translation, and is eminently suitable for readers new to Plato, and ideal for classroom use, thanks to the provision of Stephanus page and letter numbering. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World''s Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford''s commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clariTrade ReviewThe new translation is freer in some places making it more accessible to those encountering Plato for the first time. An essential book for those who desire an introduction to Platonic philosophy. * The Greek Gazette *
£8.20
Penguin Books Ltd Electra and Other Plays Women of Trachis Ajax
Book SynopsisFour seminal tragedies by the master Greek dramatist, in sparkling new translationsOf the more than one hundred plays Sophocles wrote over the course of his long life, only seven survive. This volume collects four of them, all newly translated. Electra portrays the grief of a young woman for her father, Agamemnon, who has been killed by her mother's lover. Ajax depicts the enigma of power and weakness vis-àvis the fall of the great hero. Women of Trachis dramatizes the tragic love and error of Heracles's deserted wife, Deianeira; Philoctetes examines the conflict between physical force and moral strength.For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts en
£10.44
Penguin Books Ltd The Three Theban Plays Antigone Oedipus the King
Book SynopsisThe heroic Greek dramas that have moved theatergoers and readers since the fifth century B.C.Towering over the rest of Greek tragedy, the three plays that tell the story of the fated Theban royal family—Antigone, Oedipus the King and Oedipus at Colonus—are among the most enduring and timeless dramas ever written. Robert Fagles's authoritative and acclaimed translation conveys all of Sophocles's lucidity and power: the cut and thrust of his dialogue, his ironic edge, the surge and majesty of his choruses and, above all, the agonies and triumphs of his characters. This Penguin Classics edition features an introduction and notes by the renowned classicist Bernard Knox.For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and dTrade Review“I know of no better modern English version.”—Sir Hugh Lloyd-Jones, Oxford University “A marvel of craftsmanship and intelligence.”—Emily Vermeule, Harvard University “The most impressive verse translations of Sophocles that have been made.”—Stephen SpenderTable of ContentsThe Three Theban Plays - Sophocles Translated by Robert Fagles with Introductions and Notes by Bernard KnoxAcknowledgmentsTranslator's PrefaceGreece and the TheaterSOPHOCLES: THE THREE THEBAN PLAYSIntroduction to AntigoneAntigoneIntroduction to Oedipus the KingOedipus the KingIntroduction to Oedipus at ColonusOedipus at ColonusA Note on the Text of SophoclesTextual VariantsNotes on the Translation: Antigone, Oedipus the King, Oedipus at ColonusSelect BibliographyThe Genealogy of OedipusGlossary
£8.54
Penguin Books Ltd On the Good Life Penguin Classics
Book SynopsisFor the great Roman orator and statesman Cicero, 'the good life' was at once a life of contentment and one of moral virtue - and the two were inescapably intertwined. This volume brings together a wide range of his reflections upon the importance of moral integrity in the search for happiness. In essays that are articulate, meditative and inspirational, Cicero presents his views upon the significance of friendship and duty to state and family, and outlines a clear system of practical ethics that is at once simple and universal. These works offer a timeless reflection upon the human condition, and a fascinating insight into the mind of one of the greatest thinkers of Ancient Rome.For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provideTable of ContentsIntroductionList of Greek and Latin Terms1. Discussions at Tusculum (V)2. On Duties (II)3. Laelius: On Friendship4. On the Orator (I)5. The Dream of ScipioAppendicesI. The Philosophical Works of CiceroII. The Rhetorical Works of CiceroIII. Principal DatesIV. Some Books about CiceroGenealogical TablesMapsIndex
£11.69
Penguin Books Ltd Timaeus and Critias Penguin Classics
Book SynopsisTimaeus and Critias is a Socratic dialogue in two parts. A response to an account of an ideal state told by Socrates, it begins with Timaeus’s theoretical exposition of the cosmos and his story describing the creation of the universe, from its very beginning to the coming of man. Timaeus introduces the idea of a creator God and speculates on the structure and composition of the physical world. Critias, the second part of Plato’s dialogue, comprises an account of the rise and fall of Atlantis, an ancient, mighty and prosperous empire ruled by the descendents of Poseidon, which ultimately sank into the sea.For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and not
£10.44
Harvard University Press Lysis. Symposium. Phaedrus
Book SynopsisWorks in this volume explore the relationship between two people known as love (erōs) or friendship (philia). In Lysis, Socrates meets two young men at a wrestling school; in Symposium, he joins a company of accomplished men at a drinking party; and in Phaedrus, experimental speeches about love lead to a discussion of rhetoric.
£23.70
Boydell & Brewer Ltd Bestiary
Book SynopsisA delightful translation of one of the finest, and most beautiful, examples of a medieval Bestiary.Trade ReviewThe translation is pellucid, and the colourful late-gothic illustrations really delightful. Epic begets epic: stupendous and thought-provoking. * FORTEAN TIMES *An invaluable resource for readers and writers who aspire to understand how mediaeval men and women viewed the natural world, both actual and fantastical. * HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW *Excellent translation from the Latin original makes for fascinating reading about beasts, real and imaginary, of the medieval world. The most delightful picture-book about animals you'll ever see. * EVENING STANDARD *Hugely enjoyable, this English version of a 13th-century manuscript in the Bodleian Library offers every kind of beast... The illustrations are gorgeous and well reproduced. * INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY *Table of ContentsLion; lioness; tiger; panther; antelope; pard; unicorn; lynx; gryphon; elephant; beaver; ibex; hyena; bonnacon; ape; satyr; deer; tragelaphus; goat; wild goat; monoceros; bear; leucrota; crocodile; manticore; parander; fox; hare; chameleon; eale; wolf; dog; sheep; wether; lamb; kid; he-goat; sow; boar; bullock ox; buffalo; cow; calf; camel; ass; wild ass; dromedary; horse; mule; badger; cat; mouse; weasel; mole; dormouse; hedgehog; ant; frog; dea; eagle; barnacle; osprey; water-ouzel; coot; vulture; crane; parrot; charadrius; stork; heron; swan; ibis; ostrich; coot; jackdaw; halcyon; phoenix; cinnomolgus; harz bird; hoopoe; pelican; night-owl; screech-owl; sirens; partridge; magpie; sparrowhawk; hawk; bat; nightingale; raven; crow; dove; turtle-dove; swallow; quail; goose; peacock; screech-owl; hoopoe; cock; hen; duck; sparrow; kite; bee; perindens; serpent; dragon; basilisk; viper; asp; scitalis; amphisbaena; idrus; boas; iaculus; siren; seps; dipsa; lizard; salamander; saura; newt; snake; scorpion; horned serpent; worm; fish; whale; serra; dolphin.
£19.99
Harvard University Press Fragments
Book SynopsisAeschylus (ca. 525–456 BC) is the dramatist who made Athenian tragedy one of the world’s great art forms. Seven of his eighty or so plays survive complete, including the Oresteia trilogy and the Persians, the only extant Greek historical drama. Fragments of his lost plays also survive.Trade ReviewAlan Sommerstein’s three-volume Aeschylus…is in many respects the best critical edition of this playwright available in any format. Sommerstein’s authority as a linguist and expert in Aeschylean drama is second to none… Particularly welcome is the well-documented and clearly presented volume of Fragments—for of course the seven plays we happen to possess are by no means all that Aeschylus wrote, and not necessarily even the seven best: the trilogies dealing with Achilles at Troy, or with Pentheus and the Bacchants, for example, seem to have been especially daring and influential. The facing English translation is a trustworthy guide for all who want help in figuring out what Aeschylus (probably) wrote and meant. -- Mark Griffith * Times Literary Supplement *
£23.70
Liverpool University Press Longus Daphnis and Chloe Aris Phillips Classical
Book SynopsisThis edition of Daphnis and Chloe , the best known of the Greek romances, provides the first modern commentary in English on this intriguing work. This is the story of two young people growing up as goatherd and shepherdess, and their discovery of love, sex and their true selves.Trade ReviewI warmly recommend this volume to those interested in ancient fiction and Greek literature in the Roman empire...it will be difficult to supersede the wealth of information and ideas offered in this elegantly produced book.'Table of ContentsPreface INTRODUCTION DAPHNIS AND CHLOE Book one Book two Book three Book four COMMENTARY Book one Book two Book three Book four
£25.29
HarperCollins Publishers The Odyssey
Book SynopsisHarperCollins is proud to present its new range of best-loved, essential classics.Alas that mortalsShould blame the gods! From us, they say,All evils come. Yet they themselvesIt is who through defiant deedsBring sorrow on them-far more sorrowThan fate would have them bear.'Attributed to the blind Greek poet, Homer, The Odyssey is an epic tale about cunning and strength of mind. It takes its starting point ten years after the fall of the city of Troy and follows its Greek warrior hero Odysseus as he tries to journey to his home of Ithaca in northwest Greece after the Greek victory over the Trojans.On his travels, Odysseus comes across surreal islands and foreign lands where he is in turn challenged and supported by those that he meets on his travels as he attempts to find his way back home in order to vanquish those who threaten his estate. In turn, his son Telemachus has to grow up quickly as he attempts to find his father and protect his mother from her suitors.Dealing with the univer
£5.62
Penguin Books Ltd One Hundred Poets One Poem Each
Book SynopsisA new edition of the most widely known and popular collection of Japanese poetry.The best-loved and most widely read of all Japanese poetry collections, the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu contains 100 short poems on nature, the seasons, travel, and, above all, love. Dating back to the seventh century, these elegant, precisely observed waka poems (the precursor of haiku) express deep emotion through visual images based on a penetrating observation of the natural world. Peter MacMillan''s new translation of his prize-winning original conveys even more effectively the beauty and subtlety of this magical collection.Translated with an introduction and commentary by Peter MacMillan.Trade ReviewBy far the best translation to date -- Donald KeeneFor more than seven centuries, these poems have resonated with countless readers ... [Peter Macmillan's] excellent new translation of these poems makes clear why they have mattered so much for so long ... [revealing] the vivid emotions that have kept the heart of the collection beating all this time * TIME *
£10.44
Harvard University Press Fragments Volume II
Book SynopsisEuripides (c. 485–406 BCE) has been prized in every age for his emotional and intellectual drama. Eighteen of his ninety or so plays survive complete, including Medea, Hippolytus, and Bacchae, one of the great masterpieces of the tragic genre. Fragments of his lost plays also survive.Trade ReviewEuripides keeps us on the edge of our seats, whipping up pity, fear, surprise and shock in large doses...The splendid new two-volume Loeb edition of the fragments of Euripides, of which the second volume has just appeared, is a comforting reminder that we actually have fairly substantial knowledge of many Euripidean "lost" plays as well. -- Emily Wilson * Times Literary Supplement *
£23.70
Penguin Books Ltd The History of the Peloponnesian War Classics
Book SynopsisWritten four hundred years before the birth of Christ, this detailed contemporary account of the struggle between Athens and Sparta stands an excellent chance of fulfilling the author's ambitious claim that the work was done to last forever. The conflicts between the two empires over shipping, trade, and colonial expansion came to a head in 431 b.c. in Northern Greece, and the entire Greek world was plunged into 27 years of war. Thucydides applied a passion for accuracy and a contempt for myth and romance in compiling this exhaustively factual record of the disastrous conflict that eventually ended the Athenian empire.For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and nTable of ContentsTranslated by Rex Warner with an Introduction and Notes by M. I. FinleyIntroductionTranslator's NoteBook IIntroductionThe Dispute over EpidamnusThe Dispute over CorcyraThe Dispute over PotidaeaThe Debate at Sparta and Declaration of WarThe PentecontaetiaThe Allied Congress at SpartaThe Stories of Pausanias and ThemistoclesThe Spartan Ultimatum and Pericles' ReplyBook IIOutbreak of WarThe First Year of the WarPericles' Funeral OrationThe PlagueThe Policy of PericlesThe Fall of PotidaeaThe Siege of PlataeaVictories of PhormioThrace and MacedoniaBook IIIRevolt of MytileneThe Mytilenian DebateThe End of PlataeaCivil War in CorcyraOperations in Sicily and GreeceEnd of Sixth Year of WarBook IVAthenian Success at PylosFinal Victory at PylosFurther Athenian SuccessesPeace in SicilyFighting at MegaraBrasidas in ThraceAthenian Defeat at DeliumBrasidas Captures AmphipolisArmistice between Athens and SpartaEnd of Ninth Year of WarBook VBattle of AmphipolisPeace of NiciasNegotiations with ArgosAlliance between Athens and ArgosCampaigns in the PeloponneseBattle of MantineaThe Melian DialogueBook VISicilian AntiquitiesLaunching of the Sicilian ExpeditionThe Debate at SyracuseThe Athenians Arrive in SicilyThe Story of Harmodius and AristogitonRecall of AlcibiadesAthenian Victory before SyracuseThe Debate at CamarinaAlcibiades in SpartaMore Athenian Successes at SyracuseBook VIIGylippus Arrives in SyracuseLetter of NiciasFortification of DeceleaAthenian Defeat in the Great HarbourAthenian Defeat at EpipolaeSyracusan Victory at SeaDestruction of the Athenian ExpeditionBook VIIIAlarm at AthensBeginning of Persian InterventionThe Oligarchic CoupAthenian Victory at CynossemaAppendicesBibliographyMapsIndex
£12.34
Penguin Books Ltd Greek Tragedy Penguin Classics
Book SynopsisThree masterpieces of classical tragedy Containing Aeschylus's Agamemnon, Sophocles' Oedipus Rex, and Euripides' Medea, this important new selection brings the best works of the great tragedians together in one perfect introductory volume. This volume also includes extracts from Aristophanes' comedy The Frogs and a selection from Aristotle's Poetics.For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.Table of ContentsGreek TragedyChronological TableIntroductionFurther ReadingA Note on the TextsPreface to AgamemnonAgamemnon by AeschylusPreface to Oedipus RexOedipus Rex by SophoclesPreface to MedeaMedea by EuripidesPreface to FrogsExtracts from Frogs by AristophanesPreface to PoeticsExtracts from Poetics by AristotleNotesGenealogical TablesMap of Ancient Greece
£10.44
Penguin Books Ltd Of Human Freedom
Book SynopsisIn this personal and practical guide to moral self-improvement and living a good life, the second-century philosopher Epictetus tackles questions of freedom and imprisonment, stubbornness and fear, family, friendship and love, and leaves an intriguing document of daily life in the classical world.GREAT IDEAS. Throughout history, some books have changed the world. They have transformed the way we see ourselves - and each other. They have inspired debate, dissent, war and revolution. They have enlightened, outraged, provoked and comforted. They have enriched lives - and destroyed them. Now Penguin brings you the works of the great thinkers, pioneers, radicals and visionaries whose ideas shook civilization and helped make us who we are.
£7.59
HarperCollins Publishers The Canterbury Tales
Book SynopsisHarperCollins is proud to present its range of best-loved, essential classics.
£5.08
HarperCollins Publishers Realms of the Round Table
Book SynopsisFully illustrated collection of rare and previously unpublished tales of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table, retold for a new generation by leading Arthurian expert, John Matthews, introduced by Sir John Boorman, director of the classic film, Excalibur, and illustrated with paintings and drawings by Tolkien artist, John Howe.
£30.08
Penguin Books Ltd The Erotic Poems
Book SynopsisThis collection of Ovid's poems deals with the whole spectrum of sexual desire, ranging from deeply emotional declarations of eternal devotion to flippant arguments for promiscuity. In the Amores, Ovid addresses himself in a series of elegies to Corinna, his beautiful, elusive mistress. The intimate and vulnerable nature of the poet revealed in these early poems vanishes in the notorious Art of Love, in which he provides a knowing and witty guide to sexual conquest - a work whose alleged obscenity led to Ovid's banishment from Rome in AD 8. This volume also includes the Cures for Love, with instructions on how to terminate a love affair, and On Facial Treatment for Ladies, an incomplete poem on the art of cosmetics.For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and discipTable of ContentsThe Erotic PoemsList of AbbreviationsPreface and AcknowledgmentsIntroductionThe AmoresThe Art of LoveCures for LoveOn Facial Treatment for LadiesNotes and ReferencesSelect Reading List
£11.69
Penguin Books Ltd Frogs and Other Plays
Book SynopsisThree plays from Aristophanes, the master of Ancient Greek comedyMarrying deft social commentary to a rich, earthy comedy, the three comedies collected in Aristophanes' The Frogs and Other Plays offers a unique insight into one of the most turbulent periods in Ancient Greek history. The master of ancient Greek comic drama, Aristophanes combined slapstick, humour and cheerful vulgarity with acute political observations. In The Frogs, written during the Peloponnesian War, Dionysus descends to the Underworld to bring back a poet who can help Athens in its darkest hour, and stages a great debate to help him decide between the traditional wisdom of Aeschylus and the brilliant modernity of Euripides. The clash of generations and values is also the object of Aristophanes' satire in Wasps, in which an old-fashioned father and his loose-living son come to blows and end up in court. And in Women at the Thesmophoria, the famous Greek tragedian Euripides,
£10.44
Chiltern Publishing Jane Eyre: Chiltern Edition
Book Synopsis
£17.00
HarperCollins Publishers Three Rings A Tale of Exile Narrative and Fate
Book SynopsisWinner of the 2020 Prix du Meilleur Livre Etranger, France''s best foreign book of the year.Astounding' Sebastian BarryA masterpiece' Ayad AkhtarThis little book is ruminative, humane, and gorgeously precise'Jonathan LethemIn this genre-defying book, best-selling memoirist and critic Daniel Mendelsohn explores the mysterious links between the randomness of the lives we lead and the artfulness of the stories we tell.Combining memoir, biography, history, and literary criticism, Three Rings weaves together the stories of three exiled writers who turned to the classics of the past to create masterpieces of their own-works that pondered the nature of narrative itself.Erich Auerbach, the Jewish philologist who fled Hitler''s Germany and wrote his classic study of Western literature, Mimesis, in Istanbul.Francois Fenelon, the seventeenth-century French archbishop whose ingenious sequel to the Odyssey,The Adventures of Telemachus a veiled critique of the Sun King and the best-selling book in Trade Review‘Exquisite … Ornate and oneiric, the results are well worth circling and circling back to’New York Times Book Review ‘As always, the author's voice blends authority with considerable warmth and charm, luring readers into his complex intellectual enthusiasms … Three Rings, a short but profoundly moving work, clings with tenacity to a belief in the regenerative power of literature’Wall Street Journal ‘Spectacular … The reader feels the flow of a strong narrative, trusts the author’s seafaring skills and embarks on a brilliant journey … Three Rings is a glorious celebration of multiplicity, diversity, journeys, transformations and our common humanity’Times Literary Supplement ‘Contained in the interwoven circles of this slim, labyrinthine book is a vision that encompasses the world. Part dirge, part memoir, part exegesis, all rhapsody Mendelsohn's anatomy of literature's subtlest pleasures is itself that subtlest of literary pleasures: a masterpiece’Ayad Akhtar, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Homeland Elegies ‘An astounding Borgesian document of clarity and brilliance. A book about telling stories that wanders down the seeming two roads of the Hebrew tradition and the classical, which, like Proust's two ways, might turn out to be one way after all. Three Rings has the keeled force of a long poem’Sebastian Barry ‘Classicist, historian, memoirist, cultural critic, with consummate skill and the sharp, sympathetic eye of the poet, Daniel Mendelsohn brilliantly combines these roles. Three Rings is a masterly exegesis and demonstration of digression as a high art’Joyce Carol Oates ‘Daniel Mendelsohn's Three Rings is erudition, essayism, and memoir … This little book is ruminative, humane, and gorgeously precise’Jonathan Lethem
£8.54
Oxford University Press Civil War
Book SynopsisLucan, grandson of Seneca the Rhetorician, and nephew of Seneca the Philosopher, was a remarkable and precocious product of the stimulating literary climate promoted by Nero. His epic poem on the civil war between Caesar and Pompey, unfinished at the time of his death, stands beside the poems of Virgil and Ovid in the first rank of Latin epic. The work is a powerful condemnation of civil war, and Lucan emphasizes the stark, dark horror of the catastrophes which the Roman state inflicted upon itself. This new translation in free verse conveys the full force of Lucan''s writing and his grimly realistic view of the subject. The Introduction sets the scene for the reader unfamiliar with Lucan, and explores his relationship with earlier writers of Latin epic, and his interest in the sensational.Trade Review'This has brief notes, but a good detailed introduction, excellent on, e.g. exemplarity ... and descriptions of death ... very good.' Greece & Rome, April 1993'B.'s able introduction and over one hundred pages of notes will make her work specially useful in courses covering post-Augustan literature or epic. B. covers a lot of ground admirably . Very welcome are B.'s pages ... on Lucan's learning ... B. shows her usual poise in describing the poem itself.' Roland Mayer, King's College, London, The Classical Review
£10.44
Oxford University Press The Politics
Book SynopsisTrade ReviewStalley...has...subjected the actual translation to `some fairly drastic revision'...the result is much greater clarity when it comes to both the Greek text and to exegesis of that text. The end-product is a most distinguished contribution to a collection whose prices seem to defy an economic return but I'm not complaining. * Greece and Rome Reviews 42 *Barker's translation has been given new life. * Polis *
£9.49
Oxford University Press Protagoras
Book SynopsisIn this dialogue Plato shows the pretensions of the leading sophist, Protagoras, challenged by the critical arguments of Socrates. The dialogue broadens out to consider the nature of the good life and the role of intellect and pleasure.
£7.99
Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers Inc Mythology
Book SynopsisThis deluxe edition of the world''s most beloved, bestselling classic on Greek, Roman, and Norse mythology is stunningly illustrated with specially commissioned full-color plates and a beautiful gold-bordered pages. Since its original publication in 1942, Edith Hamilton''s Mythology has sold millions of copies throughout the world and established itself as a perennial bestseller. For nearly 80 years, readers have chosenMythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes above all other books to discover the enchanting world of Greek, Roman, and Norse mythology -- from Odysseus''s adventure-filled journey to Odin''s effort to postpone the final day of doom. This deluxe, hardcover edition is illustrated throughout with specially commissioned, original artwork and beautifully illustrated lineages, making it a true collector''s item.
£22.50
HarperCollins Publishers Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Collins Classics
Book SynopsisHarperCollins is proud to present its incredible range of best-loved, essential classics.A green horse great and tall;A steed full stiff to guide,In broidered bridle allHe worthily bestridesDating from around 1400 and composed by an anonymous writer, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight was first translated and published almost 200 years ago. Its epic nature has not been dimmed by time: the classic story of a knight on a green steed challenging Sir Gawain to a monumental wager, it is a strange tale full of decapitations, seduction and magic.Soon to be brought to the big screen, Sir Gawain is one of the earliest great stories of English literature.
£5.05
Oxford University Press Keep the Aspidistra Flying
Book SynopsisMoney is what God used to be. Good and evil have no meaning any longer except failure and success.Disgusted by society''s materialism, Gordon Comstock leaves his job in advertising to pursue an ill-fated career as a poet. In his race to the bottom, only Rosemary, his long-suffering girlfriend, challenges Gordon''s self-destructive course. The novel contains the most sustained reflections on the role of the author and the artistic imagination anywhere in Orwell''s fiction, as the book''s protagonist struggles (and ultimately fails) to reconcile his romantic-aestheticist sensibilities with the pressures of the literary marketplace and with social expectations. Completed while Orwell travelled north to work on The Road to Wigan Pier, this novel is a key transitional text in his career. Offering a powerful portrayal of the emotional toll of precarity and the desire to break with capitalism, Keep the Aspidistra Flying is a significant work of mid-century British fiction but it also speaks to our own time.ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World''s Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford''s commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.Table of ContentsIntroduction Notes on the Text Select Bibliography A Chronology of George Orwell Keep the Aspidistra Flying Explanatory Notes
£9.49
