Why study the classics? What makes them important? What makes the study of them so venerated? Where Mary Beard leads I will follow. In this book she gives her answer to the question ‘Why Study Classics?’ For her it is not a reverence for those who lived in that part of the world in that time period, or an overblown respect for the literature they left behind. She instead imparts her joy at trying to imagine herself back to the time, despite strict instructions from her early mentors not to do that. I remember my own studies in History and Archaeology and having the same impulse tamped down by my teachers. This book started as a series of lectures and the style is very light and conversational. It is a real insight into what drives a person to study one subject for their whole life and still retain a sense of wonder. It was fascinating to read about MB’s initial spark of interest and her early years of academia. I am happy to report that Mary Beard hasn’t lost me yet Thank you to the publisher for a review copy of this book.

As someone new to the Classics this book was absolutely made for me. Mary Beard makes the case for the classics and antiquities having something to offer everyone, and shows how pervasive they are in our everyday life. This is an accessible, illuminating and thoroughly enjoyable book that I would recommend to everyone.

The book reads like a conversation ( albeit one-sided) with Mary Beard. I think the quote Mary Beard quoted “ because it makes you read hard things”, is my summary of the book- but that misses the point of reading it - to get a well reasoned ( albeit from only Mary Beard) perspective on what “ the classics” are, what they mean and why studying then has relevance today .As with any facets of humanities, there is no right answer - and the book opens the door for the reader to study the classics and think about one’s own insights from doing so.

Reading this book was like attending a lecture to listen to Mary Beard in person. It is informative, personable and immensely enjoyable! Mary makes classics approachable and accessible to everyone! This book gives a variety of different classical sources to investigate after the book is finished, as well as the building blocks to approaching classics for the first time.