A Classical Education: The Stuff You Wish You'd Been Taught In School (2009) - Plot & Excerpts
This is the second book I've read in this series, and I much preferred this one. While it doesn't go into much depth, it does provide reasonably entertaining summaries of many of the main elements of classical mythology, literature and history. The conversational style that so annoyed me in the previous book ('An Apple a Day') was far more suited to this book. I have studied Classics at university, but rather than feeling like it was going over old ground, this book was a nice reminder of what I enjoyed about it. This is basically "Classical Studies for Lads." It provides a very breezy, jokey, and superficial account of classical history, mythology, philosophy and etymology of some common phrases. It is also often inaccurate in the details. It's written from a very British perspective, and I honestly had more trouble making sense of her analogies to modern references than I did the classical stuff. It's not a bad book for a neophyte, but it's a light meal for anyone with a passing knowledge of the subject.
What do You think about A Classical Education: The Stuff You Wish You'd Been Taught In School (2009)?
Short and amusing refresher "course" on stuff you should already know.
—Romans1vs16
Wonderfully written, enjoyable, entertaining and informative.
—faus
Interesting way of presenting the Greek and Roman history
—mamai
