A Classical Education: The Stuff You Wish You'd Been Taught in School by Caroline Taggart

A Classical Education: The Stuff You Wish You'd Been Taught in School Reviews

• 
  Tony

  Well... it’s interesting but it only covers the essentials of Classical Greek and Roman. There is little depth. However, don’t see that as too much of a criticism, to go into any sort of depth in the ‘essentials’ would have increased the weight of this a hundred-fold.
  
  Enjoyable but you’ll probably know a great deal already, I certainly did and my education was a long way from anything that could be considered classical.
• 
  B. Rule

  This is basically "Classical Studies for Lads." It provides a very breezy, jokey, and superficial account of classical history, mythology, philosophy and etymology of some common phrases. It is also often inaccurate in the details. It's written from a very British perspective, and I honestly had more trouble making sense of her analogies to modern references than I did the classical stuff. It's not a bad book for a neophyte, but it's a light meal for anyone with a passing knowledge of the subject.
• 
  Harold Coutts

  achilles was a bottom, caroline
• 
  Elly

  This book gives very basic background information on:
  Greek/Roman mythology and history;
  Where and how it has had influence on modern sciences.
  
  -The information was somewhat useful for me as I didn't really understand the different ideas until now.
  
  -This book isn't a book to rely on in the sense of authenticity of its historical facts.
  
  However it was an enjoyable read for a non-fiction. The humour was intertwined well with the text, as it had me laughing in places I didn't expect.
• 
  Zara Dps & Reads

  I thoroughly enjoyed this book. At first I thought it would be a boring book about the pros and cons of a classical education when the reality was quite different. It's a very easy and fast read.
  
  The author had a very jovial way of getting the different aspects of what a classical education includes (for example, Greek Mythology etc). She spoke about all the different players in Greek, Roman and modern literature, history, architecture and art, to name a few.
  
  I was always found Greek Mythology, particularly, very interesting. However, Caroline Taggart managed to show me just how incestuous, among other things, the gods of Greek Mythology were. I laughed at their antics as well as finding myself thinking just how weird they all were.
  
  I would definitely recommend others to read this book especially if you want a concise account of classical education that helps to demystify this area of education.
• 
  Monica

  This book starts out kind of slow. It starts out by talking about the classical languages. I won't be able to remember any of it, I read it though. The next chapter is much better going into brief detail about the Greek Pantheon. I love to learn about the Greek Gods and Goddesses and Ms. Taggart throws in a tad bit of humor within this section to keep you reading. The next chapter covers events happening in Crete and include some pretty funny asterisk (comes from the Green for little star, see I am learning) comments. The next chapter is also a bit stiff going into Ancient Greek history but she keeps it light and quick in order to keep the reader interested. She covers everything Alexander the great to some of the great Greek historians. Continuing in this manor the author goes over the history of Ancient Rome, this chapter was more interesting and compelling that the one on Greece surprisingly but I always liked to learn about Cesar and such.
  
  I will leave the rest of the chapters for you to discover but each one gets better and funnier than the last. I loved this nice mix of facts and humor that Ms. Taggart created. The following chapters will take a look at some literature (my favorite), the arts, and a few other things I will leave to you. I enjoyed this brief informative jaunt through history. You probably will too.
• 
  Ardyth

  Stumbled on this in the children's books section at my local library...?
  
  It's a light, humorous survey of ancient Greece and Rome suitable for anyone who feels nervous or embarrassed about not having had a classical education.
  
  Unfortunately, if you have any familiarity with ancient cultures whatsoever, this book isn't going to do much for you.
  
  And I do mean any familiarity whatsoever.
  
  Heard of Socrates, Plato, Aristotle? The Parthenon? Hercules? Homer? Marcus Aurelius, Cicero, Julius Caesar?
  
  If you have even a vague sense of these, and why they are famous, this book won't do a whole lot for you. It does touch on many additional people and topics of interest, but there is too much packed into a slim volume for any of it to be memorable.
• 
  Emma R

  Concise, humorous and useful. A lot of interesting facts crammed into a small book. One to keep around for pub quizzes and dip into to refresh my knowledge!
• 
  Benni

  a light little summer read
• 
  Maciej Bliziński

  But I was taught this stuff in school!
  
  It was fun to listen about ancient Greece and Rome again. I have a feeling though, that for someone who wasn't already acquainted with Greek mythology and other ancient topics, would potentially find the rundown of ancient topics quite boring, despite the amusing writing style. So if you know nothing about ancient Greece, try reading something short in original, if not instead, then at least alongside this book.
• 
  Ness Kingsley

  I wike it.
• 
  Simon Howard

  Published in 2009, this was Taggart’s short and lighthearted book on Greek and Roman history, with a concentration on bits which are particularly relevant to modern life. After a somewhat slow start rehearsing the meanings of common Latin phrases, I found myself bouyed along by Taggart’s humour and light touch.
  
  I didn’t do much history at school, dropping it well before GCSE. I did study Latin for year, after which the school stopped offering it and I was transferred to Home Economics instead. And I’m not a big reader of the ancient classics.
  
  All of this meant that much of the content of this book was stuff I knew once a long time ago, or have a cultural awareness of without really knowing the background. As a result, I found this light-hearted recap quite fun... but those who are better read than me might well find it very lacking!
• 
  Tara

  Very well narrated audio version, and it was nice to be made to feel better about not knowing much about any of what the book teaches because of it having been removed from the school curriculum. But I think I will need to keep trying to find other material to engage with, because listening to the brief summaries and naming of all these Greek Gods an Godesses and Roman Emperors (and no Empresses) still felt a bit like flicking through a copy of the equivalent of Hello magazine in a foreign country. I'm sure seeds were sewn though.
• 
  Thomas Walker-Werth

  A great surface-level introduction to the classics that I'd recommend to anyone burdened with a modern government-run-school education. Don't expect any deep dives, and be wary of Taggart's sarcastic humor being occasionally over-burdensome, but the value of this book far outweigh the negatives for anyone lacking a basic understanding of Greco-Roman history and culture and its impact on our world today.
• 
  Andy

  Whether you are digging into classical civilisations (history, politics, literature, religion etc) for the first time or using this as a refresher it is humorous, chatty, just detailed enough, and certainly factual. It's an excellent companion and will help yo know your Sophocles from your Cicero, Your Marcus Aurelius from your Euripides.
• 
  Willow Rankin

  What a fantastic introduction to everything related to the Classics; from the history, the language, the architecture, the myths and philosphy.
  As an introduction it is very high level, and does miss some of the details related to the classics and the breezy jokey way of writing was not my favourite way of detailing some of the education this period has to offer. However, the bibliography at the back of the book has gone straight into my good reads "to read" list, and I did indeed learn a thing or too.
  Overall, I will be picking up more books from this series, to see what else I am missing out on in my general knowledge.
• 
  Sean

  I listened to this as an audio book. Very entertaining!
• 
  Art

  A witty rundown on things classical (i.e. Latin, Roman Empire and ancient Greece). It could have been more complete, that would get at least another star out of me.
  
  An interesting short read featuring things many of us have already either heard or read of before, such as etymology, mythology, theology and art. Including basic facts about the most prominent historical figures from the realms of politics and various sciences.
• 
  Declan Ashley

  Short and easy. It touches base on all the obvious things in our lives that have clear ties to that of the classical era. The perfect place to start for those lovers of all things Roman/Greco - be it columns of buildings to exciting stories of Gods and Heroes.
  
  I listened to the audiobook which sheds a comedic touch over some of the stiffer content, which I appreciated.
• 
  Teddy

  Dit was echt een leuk boek tbh, echt grappig geschreven. Nu voel ik me trouwens ook super slim enzo vraag me alles over de grieken en romeinen😼.
• 
  Marian Leica

  Found it valuable and felt lucky that I've actually been taught most of this stuff back in school.
• 
  Sarah

  It does what it said it would & its pretty funny about it:) a good read all in all.
• 
  Maartje Volder

  its a fun read, but if you want to know more get some of Stephen Fry his work. As soon as stuff pops up like saying Napoleon was a short man, I start doubting the quality if they fall for common misconceptions.