Description: In 1872 Burckhardt, one of the preeminent historians of classical and Renaissance culture, presented this revolutionary work, which portrays ancient Greek culture as an aristocratic world and tyrannical state with minimal personal freedoms. This landmark culmination of 30 years of scholarship offers a rich cultural history of a fascinating society.
Brief description: Dr. Oswyn Murray is CUF Lecturer in Ancient History, Faculty of Classics, at Oxford University, and director of an international project entitled Bibliotheca Academica Translationum, investigating the diffusion of classical studies through the translation of works of scholarship in Europe, 1700-1920.
Review Quotes:
"Not only a rich overview of Burckhardt's learning but a precious glimpse into the intellectual world of the late nineteenth century." --The New Yorker
"A corrective to the rather gaga idealism of 'the Greek spirit'...lively." --George Wills, The New York Times Book Review "This book will become a necessary tool in courses not only on nineteenth-century historiography, but on the ancient world as well." --Publishers Weekly