Title: The Classics: All You Need to Know, from Zeus’s Throne to the Fall of Rome
Author: Caroline Taggart
Publisher: Readers Digest
Publication Date: July 8, 2010
Hardcover: 176 pages
ISBN: 978-1606521328
Genre: History/Trivia
About the Book:
Fill in Your Knowledge Gaps
It’s no myth: The legacy of the ancient Greeks and Romans touches each of us in some way every day. In fact, the great thinkers from this period laid the foundation for much of our language, art, architecture, and science. Unfortunately, learning about such things can often be oh, so boring. But nil desperandum (do not despair). It’s really no Herculean task. With The Classics, author Caroline Taggart presents a lively refresher course of the most important “stuff” you need to know. From Homer’s Odyssey to “alpha” male, from the Aeneid to Roman aqueducts, fill in the gaps in your education and reacquaint yourself with . . .
* Latin and Greek words used in English
* Classical literature, mythology, and philosophy
* Ancient Greek and Roman history
My Review
Fun and educational, The Classics: All You Need to Know from Zeus’s Throne to the Fall of Rome makes for an intriguing trivia book, refresher, or an introduction to the material. Taggart covers some heavy material expertly and with wit and enthusiasm for the topics beginning with the classical languages; Greek and Latin and ending with the Olympics, while in between are eight chapters covering the beginning of Ancient Greece, Rome, Classic Literature, Architecture and Art, Math and Science, and Liberal Arts. My favourite sections, if I had to choose would have been the in-depth over-view of mythologies and the mathematics and science sections. Overall, Taggart has compiled a book that classics lovers and trivia buffs alike will enjoy. My family and I had a lot of fun discussing many of the topics and making up our own post hoc propter hoc scenarios, that is the type of family we are. The Classics is well-written and delightfully fun as well as informative. I would recommend The Classics to anyone.
Caroline Taggart has been an editor of non-fiction books for nearly 30 years and has covered nearly every subject from natural history and business to gardening and astronomy. She has written several books and was the editor of Writer’s Market UK 2009.
I received a complimentary copy of The Classics by Caroline Taggart from FSB Associates. Receiving a review copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned novel.
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