In our current climate of populist history versus exclusive specialisation, Todd has written a book which is at once broad yet intricate, readable yet impeccably researched. The technicalities of Athenian law are covered in sufficient detail as to provide a mine of information to both specialist ancient historians and comparative lawyers. Yet an excellant glossary and Todd's prose style will ensure that the "layman" will be able to procede unhindered. But the book is so much more than legal technicalities - Todd's aim was to explore the "shape" of Athenian law, a very broad sweep, but one which he manages with absolute success. In any society of any age the law both impacts upon, and reflects, the attitudes and workings of that society. How did the law affect women? What was the status of slaves and foreigners in Athens? Was Athens as violent as the streets of inner city America? Can we think in terms of ancient "ecomomics"? I also admire Todd's attempt to reclaim a more Greek transliteration from their Latinate counterparts, although he wisely keeps well-known proper nouns Latinate so as to avoid confusion. A bookshelf is not wholly complete without a copy of Todd's work.

I love this book! Tons of SIMPLE yet fun hands-on activities to learn about Ancient Greece. Coupled with Laurie Carlson's books, Kids Create and Classical Kids, my kids are "living" ancient history. From very simple peplos (like a toga) to a whole set of Greek armor to vases, I have found these to be very budget and time friendly. Our most recent project was making a weaving loom from yarn and a piece of cardboard. My children (ages 5 and 7) loved it! As we homeschool, not only would I buy this book again, but we are going to buy "Spend a Day in Ancient Rome" for next year. My kids especially enjoyed the make-believe story of the two children that we "spend the day" with. Excellent!

I think this is a great way to get across information about life in ancient times, namely to write a travel book that looks like it was written back in those days! Don Nardo, by far the best historical writer for young people in the U.S., takes full advantage of the clever format by talking to the reader as if he or she was visitng Athens in the year 340 B.C., not long before the city of was defeated by Macedonia's King Philip, father of Alexander the Great. It's very detailed but never boring, and offers both students and adults a refreshing look at a subject that is often presented in a dry manner in schools. I highly recomend it!

This delightfully accessible courtroom drama offers a rare glimpse into the life of a strong willed prostitute who gained, and stood to lose, a measure of domestic tranquility in ancient Greece. The author's considerable research effortlessly contextualizes the mores of an exotic time and place, allowing readers to sympathize fully with an unforgettable protagonist.

The late George W. Oakes delighted in viewing the great cities of England and Europe, and takes you on walking tours through them with the charm of an old and wise friend. He tells you when to look up, when to cross the square, what alley to turn into and gives you a chance to see the history, the architectural and the people interest you always wanted to experience in your travels. Short tours and detailed walking maps guide you along; the book is almost pocket size so I would advise taking it with you when you visit the great cities next time.

After attending a luncheon with both Roscoe and DeMott, I found their memories and visions to be quite insightful. They both have charming personalities, and I definitely recommend that anyone with ties to the Midwest should read this book.

I have enjoyed every minute of working with my fellow contributers. The varied mix of different writing styles made the experience unique and highly educational, expanding my own writing immesurably. Any poetry lover will enjoy this ecclectic mix of verse, I highly recomend it, and not just because I helped write it.

Gore Vidal does a wonderful job bringing the fifth century B.C. to life. Most of the historical material that is available from this time period tells the story from the Greek point of view, though it is likely the Persians thought of Greece in the uncultured and unwealthy way that Vidal portrays. More importantly, the novel presents eastern thought of the period in a very clear, concise manner. Questions are raised not only pertaining to the narrator's Zoroastrian religion, but also pertaining to Buddhism and Confucianism. The benefits and pitfalls of each are described in detail. This is the first Gore Vidal novel I have read, and I will certainly delve into more.

It's unfortunate that alot of people will be discouraged by the size of this book, and the fact that it is "historical fiction..." Don't be fooled! This is one of the most entertaining books I have ever read. Creation was so enjoyable that I didn't even notice that I'd been developing a much better understanding of history and ancient middle and far-eastern religious systems. (until I began knowing what my ancient history professor was going to say before she said it.)

Even if you don't want to learn more about history read this book for the simple fact that it is engrossing and hilarious. Cyrus is so uncompromising in his beliefs and offers presents history from a viewpoint from which it is seldom explored.

Another very intelligent and thoroughly enjoyable read from Vidal, Creation is a book I was able to sink my teeth into for several weeks. It has everything: history, travel, philsophy, etc. It is a BIG book but once you get involved, you will be totally immersed in the ancient world. Vidal is very entertaining.

the Oxford Shakespeare has been touted as 'a new conception' of Shakespeare, but is in fact merely an update of the cumbersome old Arden editions. Like these, 'King John' begins with a 100-page introduction, divided into 'Dates and Sources' (full of what even the editor admits is 'tedious' nit-picking of documentary evidence); 'The Text' (the usual patronising conjecture about misprints in the Folio edition and illiterate copyists); 'A Critical Introduction', giving a conventional, but illuminating guide to the drama, its status as a political play dealing with the thorny problem of royal succession, the contemporary legal ambiguities surrounding inheritance, the patterning of characters, the use of language (by characters as political manoeuvring, by Shakespeare to subvert them); and an account of 'King John' 'In the Theatre', its former popularity in the 18th and 19th century as a spectacular pageant, the play distorted for patriotic purposes, and its subsequent decline, presumably for the same reasons. The text itself is full of stumbling, often unhelpful endnotes - what students surely want are explanations of difficult words and figures, not a history of scholarly pedantry. The edition concludes with textual appendices.
The play itself, as with most of Shakespeare's histories, is verbose, static and often dull. Too many scenes feature characters standing in a rigid tableau debating, with infinite hair-cavilling, issues such as the legitimacy to rule, the conjunction between the monarch's person and the country he rules; the finer points of loyalty. Most of the action takes place off stage, and the two reasons we remember King John (Robin Hood and the Magna Carta) don't feature at all. This doesn't usually matter in Shakespeare, the movement and interest arising from the development of the figurative language; but too often in 'King John', this is more bound up with sterile ideas of politics and history, than actual human truths. Characterisation and motivation are minimal; the conflations of history results in a choppy narrative. There are some startling moments, such as the description of a potential blood wedding, or the account of England's populace 'strangely fantasied/Possessed with rumours, full of idle dreams/Not knowing what they fear, but full of fear'. The decline of the king himself, from self-confident warrior to hallucinating madman, anticipates 'King Lear', while the scene where John's henchman sets out to brand the eyes of the pubescent Pretender, is is full of awful tension.
P.S. Maybe I'm missing something, but could someone tell me why this page on 'King John' has three reviews of 'Timon of Athens'? Is somebody having a laugh?

Timon of Athens has often been thought the work of a madman. Disjointed, polemical, irrational, and downright inelegant, many have thought that Shakespeare (or whosoever it may be) suffered a mental breakdown. This and more surrounds what I believe to be a tragic under-appreciation of this play. This play is NOT the story of a naively generous soul who eventually "faces reality". This is instead the story of a glorious Dionysian self-expender, who, upon realizing the cowardly conservatism of his so-called "peers", runs off to the wilds, to continue expending himself in body and soul. He dies on a curse, the climax of all the "evil wind" he has been sending out, the ultimate self-expension, his ultimate glory. The "tragedy" is the stone cold tablet that lies atop his corpse at the end, and the message of frugality it seems to send out, which is all too easily accepted by fatally declining cultures.

Among the least performed of all the Shakespeare plays, is probably the most disturbing. In the beginning, Timon is (not to put too fine a point on it) stupidly philanthropic; in the end he is equally misanthropic. When Timon is on top of the world, we have the cynical Apemantus to be our voice and let him know what a fool he is. In the last two acts, we simply wish (I do, at least) that our hero would stop complaining and let us "pass and stay not here," as he would have all men do in his epitaph.

But a recording is to be judged on its performances, not so much on its text. The Arkangel series, now in its last laps toward completion before (I am told) it is all redone on CDs, has every reason to be proud of its "Timon of Athens," thanks to its strong and intelligent readings. The opening scenes of artisans and poets building up the play's themes of wheel-of-fortune and gratitude/ingratitude are almost intelligible without a text open before you. Alan Howard, whom I saw in New York long ago as Henry V and as the main character in "Good," has that kind of friendly voice that is so well suited to the extravagant Timon in the open acts that we feel all the more for him when his false friends deny him in his need.

The snarling voice of Norman Rodway's Apemantus is a perfect counterpoint, and he casts out his invective in those early scenes with a hint of humor. However, when Timon becomes the misanthrope, his voice darkens and coarsens; and it is very hard to tell it from Apemantus' in their overly-long exchange of curses in 4:3. If the actor playing Alcibiades (Damian Lewis) sounds far too young for the role, that is a minor quibble--and perhaps the director wanted him to sound like a young Timon.

The incidental music sounds sufficiently Greek but too modern; still, Ingratitude knows no particular time period. A superior production of a much flawed play and a very welcome addition to any collection of recorded drama, especially since the old Decca set is long out of print and Harper audio does not yet have a "Timon" in their series.

When you are reading the play you feel like in a dream The play both contains romantic and anti-romantic attitudes. William Shakespeare stimulates the imagination of the spectator by fantastic contrasts and the creation of an exotic fairy world. The main theme of the play is the love among different persons". Like there are four groups of persons, there are four different plots which weave together: First, the wedding of Theseus and Hippolyta, second, the love-adventures of Lysander, Hermia, Demetrius and Helena, third, the quarrel between Oberon and Titania and last but not least the rehearsals and the performance of Bottom and the Athenian workmen of the play of "Pyramus and Thisby". At the beginning of the play it wasn't very simple to see through the four different plots and the language was sometimes very difficult to understand, but it's nevertheless a nice play you should really know! I think Shakespeare has put a symbolism into that play. The movement of the scenes could mean that the actors leave the real world for a short time, and enter in a dream world, to solve their problems there and come back, when all problems are solved.

I won't tell the whole plot of the play, for then I'll be destroying the mystery. I'll just say a tiny bit of the story so one will get the idea:

1. Hermia and Lysander elope to get married, Demetrius follows them because he desperately loves Hermia and Helena follows Demetrius because he's the man of her dreams. All end up in a forrest.

2. King Oberon and Queen Titania have a fight over a child, and Oberon wants revenge. Plus, he decides to help a certain couple he saw in the forrest.

3. Peter Quince and his play fellows, along with the arrogant and conceited Bottom, are going to perform a play, and they chose to practice in the same forrest.

Bottom line: Puck, Oberon's servant, messes everything up.

What happens? What is the connection made between these 3 groups? Like I said, I'll not tell. ;> All I'm going to tell is that the play is worth a read. Magic, confusion, love, hate, revenge, mischance, proudness, friendship, joy, sadness, everything are all rolled into one (typical by Shakespeare).

So, looking for a good and comic read by Shakespeare? Read this one and enjoy.

This is a fabulous edition for anyone who just wants to get to the meat of the story. It's small, very portable, cheap, and doesn't waste a whole lot of time on introductions. The story itself is fairly well known. I would reccomend _Much Ado About Nothing_ for those who enjoy _Midsummer_'s light-hearted comedy and are willing to explore some of the themes a bit more deeply and seriously.