The Birth of Classical Europe

Oct 25, 2024 9:18 AM

Author:Simon Price,Peter Thonemann

'The Penguin History of Europe series ... is one of contemporary publishing's great projects' New Statesman

To an extraordinary extent we continue to live in the shadow of the classical world. At every level from languages to calendars to political systems, we are the descendants of a 'classical Europe', using frames of reference created by ancient Mediterranean cultures.

As this consistently fresh and surprising new book makes clear, however, this was no less true for the inhabitants of those classical civilizations themselves, whose myths, history, and buildings were an elaborate engagement with an already old and revered past filled with great leaders and writers, emigrations and battles. Indeed, much of the reason we know so much about the classical past is the obsessive importance it held for so many generations of Greeks and Romans, who interpreted and reinterpreted their changing casts of heroes and villains. Figures such as Alexander the Great and Augustus Caesar loom large in our imaginations today, but they were themselves fascinated by what had preceded them.

The Birth of Classical Europe is therefore both an authoritative history, and also a fascinating attempt to show how our own changing values and interests have shaped our feelings about an era which is by some measures very remote but by others startlingly close.

Reviews

The Birth of Classical Europe combines a strong narrative with sophisticated thematic analysis and reflection ... Despite the immense ground covered, there is no impression of the breathlessness and superficiality which one might have thought unavoidable.

—— Simon Hornblower , TLS

The Penguin History of Europe series ... is one of contemporary publishing's great projects

—— New Statesman

With five volumes now out, the Penguin History of Europe series ... is shaping up to be the best general account available, superseding all previous ones

—— Economist

A stylish and fascinating account of the first global struggle

—— New Statesman

Splendid

—— Guardian

Magnificent

—— Sunday Express

Fascinating

—— History Today

Makes a great case for a better appreciation of this, the fourth year of the Seven Years' War

—— Jad Adams , BBC History Magazine

Robust, intelligent, panoramic history at its best

—— Andrew Lycett , BBC History Magazine

Frank McLynn is clearly one of those historian-writers so prolific and versatile that he makes you wonder why Simon Schama doesn't pull his finger out

—— Independent on Sunday

As good as the author's previous biography of Queen Victoria's eldest daughter and that is saying a great deal

—— Contemporary Review

The sisters' story emerges from their letters, spiced in Jehanne Wake's entertaining narrative with aristocratic gossip and succinct accounts of (such) half-forgotten history

—— Daily Mail

Wake has crafted an entertaining story, based on research of several letters from the period, about the sisters, their loves, lives and ambitions...as a historical account it comes recommended

—— Julian Fleming , Sunday Business Post

Thorpe's superb biography leaves no primary source untapped, and bountiful anecdotes make this account of a truly three-dimensional character a joy to read.

—— Telegraph

Bringing together 35 years of research this biography of Harold Macmillan looks at both his personal and political achievements, conflicts, and events that defined his time. From Eton to prime minister, this is a compelling read.

—— Charlotte Vowden , Daily Express

He is an Aston Martin DB6 kind of writer, who is very English, very stately

—— Anthony Seldon , The Browser

Scholarly, and thoroughly researched, Supermac should nevertheless appeal to the general reader through the accessibility of its proce and the assistance offered by placing events in historical context... Humane, benevolent, and considerable; much like its subject

—— Dr Martin Farr , BBC History Magazine

The best biography of a post-war British Prime Minister yet written.

—— Vernon Bogdanor, Professor of Government at Oxford University

A unique and astonishing social history book which is revolutionary in its concept, informative and entertaining

—— History magazine

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