In the third century BCE, the ancient kingdom of Macedon held dominion over mainland Greece, but it was rapidly descending into chaos. After Alexander the Great's death, several of his successors cont
"We Greeks are one in blood and one in language; we have temples to the gods and religious rites in common, and a common way of life." So the fifth-century historian Herodotus has some Athenians decla
"Is there anyone on earth who is so narrow-minded or uninquisitive that he could fail to want to know how and thanks to what kind of political system almost the entire known world was conquered and br
"Is there anyone on earth who is so narrow-minded or uninquisitive that he could fail to want to know how and thanks to what kind of political system almost the entire known world was conquered and br
Alexander the Great conquered an enormous empire--stretching from Greece to the Indian subcontinent--and his death triggered forty bloody years of world-changing events. These were years filled with h
Alexander the Great conquered an enormous empire--stretching from Greece to the Indian subcontinent--and his death triggered forty bloody years of world-changing warfare. These were years filled with
When it was originally published this book broke new ground in presenting one continuous narrative of the history of Christians in Persia from the second century A.D to the 1970s. The material gathere
The picture we have of it - created by his immediate followers and perpetuated in countless works of literature and art ever since - is that a noble man was put to death in a fit of folly by the ancie
In the spring of 399 BCE, Socrates stood trial in his native Athens. The court was packed, and after being found guilty by his peers, Socrates died by drinking a cup of the poison hemlock, a defin
The picture we have of it - created by his immediate followers and perpetuated in countless works of literature and art ever since - is that a noble man was put to death in a fit of folly by the ancie
In The Expedition of Cyrus, the Western world's first eyewitness account of a military campaign, Xenophon told how, in 401 B.C., a band of unruly Greek mercenaries traveled east to fight for the Persi
It is 401 BC. After an epic battle in Persia, Xenophon is elected general of the defeated Greek army and must lead the men on a fraught journey back home - a journey of hundreds of miles, north from m
It is 401 BC. In battle at Cunaxa on the River Euphrates, the Persian king Artaxerxes II defeats a challenge to his throne by his brother Cyrus, the Younger. Among the slain of Cyrus's troops are a co
In Hidden Depths, Robin Waterfield explores the fascinating world of hypnosis, tracing the history of this often misunderstood craft beginning with a passage in the book of Genesis, and continuing thr
In Hidden Depths, Robin Waterfield explores the fascinating world of hypnosis, tracing the history of this often misunderstood craft beginning with a passage in the book of Genesis, and continuing thr
Aristotle said that philosophy begins with wonder, and the first Western philosophers developed theories of the world which express simultaneously their sense of wonder and their intuition that the w
As a cobbler in Gorlitz, Jacob Boehme (1575-1624) came into contact with many great thinkers who sought refuge from the Roman Church and Reformation groups in post-Luther Germany. Gradually he became
A NEW SET OF GREAT IDEAS FROM PENGUIN BOOKSThe perfect books for the true book lover, Penguin's Great Ideas series offers twelve more ground-breaking works by some of history's most prodigious thinker
A unique selection of four dialogues in which Plato considers virtue-- individual virtue as well as virtue as a whole-- and its definition. Charmides, Laches, and Lysis investigate the specific virtu
Phaedrus is widely recognized as one of Plato's most profound and beautiful works. It takes the form of a dialogue between Socrates and Phaedrus and its ostensible subject is love, especially homoer
In his celebrated masterpiece, Symposium, Plato imagines a high-society dinner-party in Athens in 416 BC. The guests--including the comic poet Aristophanes and Plato's mentor Socrates--each deliver a
One of Plato's most widely read dialogues, Gorgias treats the temptations of worldly success and the rewards of the genuinely moral life. Appealing to philosophers as a classic text of moral philo
The central work of one of the West's greatest philosophers, The Republic of Plato is a masterpiece of insight and feeling, the finest of the Socratic dialogues, and one of the great books of West
The Count of Monte Cristo was inspired by an anecdote from the Parisian police archives, a pearl of a story, Dumas called it, 'A rough, shapeless pearl, of no value, waiting for its jeweller'. Edmond
Starting with the most meagre resources, Philip made his kingdom the greatest power in EuropeThe Greek historian Diodorus of Sicily is one of our most valuable sources from ancient times. His history,
'Even if everyone else succumbs to slavery, we must still fight for our freedom.'Admired by many in the ancient world as the greatest of the classic Athenian orators, Demosthenes was intimately involv
Alexander the Great conquers the New York Times best-selling Who Was…? series! When Alexander was a boy in ancient Macedon, he already had grand ambitions. He complained that his father, the great kin
