{"product_id":"talking-classics","title":"Talking Classics: The Shock of the Old","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe incomparable Mary Beard is back, and she's talking all things classics.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhy the ongoing fascination with the ancient world? This witty, approachable book asks why--for better or (sometimes) worse--antiquity continues to exert such a powerful hold on the contemporary imagination. Recalling a formative childhood encounter with a four-thousand-year-old piece of bread in a museum, Beard introduces the idea of \u003ci\u003ethauma\u003c\/i\u003e, or wonder, that kick-started a lifetime engaging with classics. It was not the canonical \"greats\" of ancient literature and art that initially drew her in, she confesses, but rather the more intimate, messy, and humdrum evidence of daily life in the remote past.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eConfronting the uses and abuses of symbols of the ancient world, Beard reminds us that the traditions and \"masterpieces\" of Greece and Rome have certainly been politicized, but they belong to neither the left nor the right. Happily, no one owns the past. She warns us not to let a sense of reverence or overfamiliarity dampen the \"shock of the old,\" arguing that one of the most important things that classics teach us is how to grapple with complicated and controversial things. \"The Greeks and Romans are long dead, they cannot answer back, and you can say what you like about them,\" she reminds readers. \"The simple fact that classics belong to none of us can offer a safe space to argue about the most difficult debates we face now.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBeard welcomes everyone into classics. \"It is not compulsory to be excited by the ancient world,\" she writes. \"But it can be a shame not to be.\" This charming, sharp, and readable book from one of the world's most entertaining classicists offers something for both new and established fans of classics, bringing new wonder and curiosity to even the most ancient of ideas.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eMary Beard\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan\u003eis a distinguished classicist, international bestselling author, and popular television personality. She is professor emerita of classics at the University of Cambridge, a fellow of Newnham College, and professor of Ancient Literature at the Royal Academy, as well as being the classics editor of the \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eTimes Literary Supplement\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, a fellow of the British Academy, and an international member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Her books include \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eSPQR: A History of Ancient Rome\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eWomen and Power: A Manifesto\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eTwelve Caesars: Images of Power from the Ancient World to the Modern\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, and \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eEmperor of Rome: Ruling the Ancient Roman World\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"A passionate defense particularly notable for its bracing lack of old fogeyism.\"\u003cstrong\u003e--Kirkus\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"This companionable book, by a Cambridge classicist, marvels at the ancient world. Beard's subjects range from artistic achievements to signs of ordinary life: scrawled Roman graffiti, a piece of ancient bread. Simultaneously rendering the past less remote while relishing its radical foreignness, Beard presses readers to grapple with alien ideas, reckon with gaps in their knowledge, and confront complexity. She also critiques the Classics' history of exclusionary requirements, such as mastering accent marks the ancient Greeks never used, and challenges modern leaders who signal legitimacy through simplistic references to Greece and Rome. Throughout, she shows how the classical world can sneak 'up from behind, as it were, to surprise us, and make us think again.'\u003cstrong\u003e\"\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e--New Yorker\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\"Her irreverence has turned her into a national treasure. . . [She] illuminates the present through the past.\"\u003cspan\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e--Observer\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\"Britain's most beloved intellectual.\"\u003cspan\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e-- Guardian\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"The book feels as if Beard, with her excitement and good humor, is regaling an audience. . . . [S]tudents (current, former, and future) of classical education will savor Beard's rooted rumination on classics as both a discipline and a means of finding thauma.\"\u003cspan\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e-- Booklist\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"Britain's most famous classicist is at the peak of her powers.'\u003cspan\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e--The Times\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"The reigning Queen of Classics.\"\u003cstrong\u003e--Spectator\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"University of Chicago Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54569363996982,"sku":"9780226834245","price":22.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0745\/2301\/7526\/files\/41rGSkLxXkL._SY445_SX342_FMwebp.webp?v=1789582823","url":"https:\/\/www.summerbeambooks.com\/products\/talking-classics","provider":"Summer Beam Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}