The Birth of Classical Europe

Two members of LMH have just completed a book for Penguin. Dr Simon Price, who retired in 2008 as Ancient History tutor, and Dr Peter Thonemann, who read Greats at LMH and is now Ancient History tutor at Wadham, have jointly written The Birth of Classical Europe: A History from Troy to Augustine.

The book offers an introduction to the ancient world, setting the Greeks and Romans firmly in the context of the Near East, North Africa and Western Europe. Its main theme is that of memory: it explores the changing views of the past held by throughout antiquity; and it also illustrates, in inset boxes, uses that the post-classical world has made of the classical past (for example, FYROM and Macedonia). The book is complemented by numerous maps and illustrations, and splendid colour plates. 

The book, which appeared on 29 April, will be reviewed in this year's Brown Book; it was warmly reviewed in The Times Literary Supplement (16 April). You can hear the authors talking about the themes of the book on a Blackwell podcast.