Classics

The Harvard Classics Volume 1

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The first volume in the Harvard Classics is actually pretty good.  It consists of three works: The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin , by Benjamin Franklin Journal, by John Woolman Fruits of Solitude, by William Penn All were actually fairly readable from my perspective although I enjoyed the writing of Franklin the most and Woolman the least with Penn being somewhere in the middle. Benjamin Franklin’s autobiography covers essentially the first half of his life as he passed away before he could finish writing it.  He is very modest and actually matter of fact in relating the events of his life.  He also has a very witty writing style that is … More after the Jump…

The Harvard Classics

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I decided a few days ago that I am going to start a project that I have always wanted to do, read the entire 51 Volume set of the Harvard Classics aka “The Five Foot Shelf of Books”.  I work in a Library and we have the complete set on our shelves but they are also available as eBooks in a couple of places online such as at the Project Gutenberg website.  I first remember hearing about them in High School when our English teacher mentioned them.  They are essentially a method to obtain a classical liberal arts education without going to school. The short description of the collection from … More after the Jump…

Book Review: Polybius-The Histories

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The Histories by Polybius is the next book in classics arc. It covers the period from the beginning of the First Punic War in 267 B.C. to 167 B.C. when he claims the Roman Empire was essentially complete and ruled most of the known world. He claims to write the first universal history and has some pretty harsh words for historians who preceded him, especially Timaeus of Locri. The complete text of the histories is available online at several sites, the one I like the best is Bill Thayer’s site LacusCurtis, he has a huge number of classic texts online as well as travelogues of many classic sites and what … More after the Jump…

Book Review: The Makers of Rome by Plutarch (Penguin Classics)

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I am currently on an arc of reading Latin classics I have not read but always wanted to. I finished the first one a few days ago, the Penguin Classics edition of The Makers of Rome by Plutarch. It is not a complete copy of Plutarch’s Lives however, it only includes the lives of nine Romans, Coriolanus, Fabius Maximus, Marcellus, Cato the Elder, Tiberius Gracchus, Gaius Gracchus, Sertorius, Brutus, and Mark Antony. Plutarch writes in an engaging style that is very easy to read and the translator does an outstanding job of converting the Latin into English while keeping his style. Plutarch is not always historically accurate; he has a … More after the Jump…