"The first female translator of the epic into English in over sixty years, Stephanie McCarter addresses accuracy in translation and its representation of women, gendered dynamics of power, and sexual violence in Ovid's classic. Ovid's Metamorphoses is an epic poem, but one that upturns almost every convention. There is no main hero, no central conflict, and no sustained objective. What it is about (power, defiance, art, love, abuse, grief, rape, war,...

Mary Beard is one of the world's best-known classicists, an academic with a rare gift for communicating with a wide audience. Here, she draws on thirty years of teaching about Greek and Roman history to provide a panoramic portrait of the classical world that draws surprising parallels with contemporary society. We are taken on a guided tour of antiquity, encountering some of the most famous (and infamous) characters of classical history, among them...

"A soaring polemic, a grumpy reflection on modern music and the love note of a fan, A sound mind rejects the idea that classical music is fusty and old. Instead, this book reveals it to be the most exciting genre in music, its whole sound and history based on the search for "new," which is so lacking (according to Morley) in modern rock music. This is a memoir of Morley's shifting musical tastes, but it's also a compelling history of classical music...

Classical music has a reputation for being stuffy, boring, and largely inaccessible, but Burton-Hill is here to change that. An award-winning writer, broadcaster and musician, with a deep love of the art form she wants everyone to feel welcome at the classical party, and her desire to share her passion for its diverse wonders inspired this unique, enlightening, and expertly curated treasury. As she says, "The only requirements for enjoying classical...

Discover more than 70 of the most famous ballet dances, from The Nutcracker and Swan Lake to The Rite of Spring. Learn the stories behind renowned companies such as The Royal Ballet and the Bolshoi Ballet. Explore the lives and achievements of dancers across the centuries, such as Margot Fonteyn, Carlos Acosta, and Darcey Bussell. Meet composers and choreographers, from Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky to Matthew Bourne. From its origins at court and the...

"A revolutionary new understanding of the most famous and influential building in the world, a thesis that calls into question our basic understanding of the ancient civilization that we most identify with. For more than two millennia, the Parthenon has been revered as the symbol of Western culture, the epitome of the ancient society from which we derive our highest ideals. It was understood to honor the city-state's patron deity Athena, and its intricately...

A monster assembled by a scientist from parts of dead bodies develops a mind of his own as he learns to loathe himself and hate his creator.

Drawing on a trove of confidential museum records and frank interviews, Felch and Frammolino give a fly-on-the-wall account of the inner workings of a world-class museum and tell the story of the Getty's dealings in the illegal antiquities trade. Fast-paced and compelling, "Chasing Aphrodite" exposes the layer of dirt beneath the polished facade of the museum business.