Ancient Democracy

An intimate study of Abraham Lincoln’s powerful vision of democracy, which guided him through the Civil War and is still relevant today—by a best-selling historian and three-time winner of the Lincoln Prize *Winner of the 2024 Abraham Lincoln Institute Book Prize* *Finalist for the 2025...

Master ancient Greek history with this comprehensive study guide designed specifically for college students. From the Bronze Age palaces of Mycenae to Alexander the Great's vast empire, this guide covers all essential periods of Greek civilization. Each chapter provides clear explanations, recent scholarship, and carefully organized information to help students succeed in their coursework. What You'll Learn: Bronze Age civilizations and the Greek Dark Age Rise of the polis and development of democracy Persian Wars and Classical Athens Philosophy, drama, and cultural achievements ...

Ancient Greece first coined the concept of democracy, yet almost every major ancient Greek thinker - from Plato and Aristotle onward - was ambivalent toward or even hostile to democracy in any form. The explanation for this is quite simple: The elite perceived majority power as tantamount to a dictatorship of the proletariat. In ancient Greece, there can be traced not only the rudiments of modern democratic society but the entire Western tradition of antidemocratic thought.

What if the ruins of a forgotten world still whispered the secrets of your own? Beneath the marble columns and sun-bleached stones of Ancient Greece lies more than history. There lies a heartbeat. A story of ambition, betrayal, brilliance, and collapse. A story that didn’t end—it became the foundation of everything we call civilization today. The Rise and Fall of Ancient Greece is not just a chronicle of battles and empires. It is a journey into the soul of a people who dared to ask the hardest questions, build the boldest cities, and imagine a world governed by reason instead of fear. ...

How an ancient land became a great democracy. Longlisted for Best Non Fiction in the Indie Book Awards 2026 'Tony Abbott should be congratulated ... This history of Australia is vivid, readable, provocative' Geoffrey Blainey, historian 'I think it's very good' Tom Holland, historian Australia is...

Read this for free with your Kindle Unlimited Membership Greece is a colorful country and has always been the target of many tourists looking to have a relaxing time. However, what many people do not seem to know is that Greece also packs a rich history – all lying beneath the beautiful landscapes and beaches. Its history starts thousands of years before the Christian calendar was used – and each moment represents a cultural artifact that enriched more than a single country. Greece went through many wars – big and small. Some were fought because certain conquerors had their eyes on ...

The definitive translation of Plato's Republic, the most influential text in the history of Western philosophy. “To read The Republic as Bloom means it to be read is to question everything we think we know about government, politics, the best human life, and the nature of truth.” —Adam...

How an ancient land became a great democracy. Longlisted for Best Non Fiction in the Indie Book Awards 2026 'Tony Abbott should be congratulated ... This history of Australia is vivid, readable, provocative' Geoffrey Blainey, historian 'I think it's very good' Tom Holland, historian Australia is...

In this powerful, sweeping history and analysis of American democracy, Thom Hartmann shows how democracy is the one form of governance most likely to produce peace and happiness among people. With the violent exception of the Civil War, American democracy resisted the pressure to disintegrate into factionalism for nearly two centuries, and now our very system of democratic elections is at stake. So how do we save our democracy?

A Non-Fiction Historical Book set in Ancient Athens during the 4th century B.C. Immerse yourself in the vibrant culture and rich history of ancient Athens, where philosophy, theater, and democracy were born. This meticulously researched book takes you on a journey through the city's iconic landmarks, bustling markets, and influential institutions, revealing the intricate web of politics, economy, art, and daily life that defined this fascinating civilization. Explore the intricacies of Athenian society, from the aristocratic elite to the common citizens, as they navigated the complexities ...

Phocion (402-318 BCE) won Athens's highest public office by direct democratic election an unmatched forty-five times and was officially honored as a "Useful Citizen." A student at Plato's Academy, Phocion gained influence and power during a time when Athens faced multiple crises stemming from Macedonia's emergence as an international power under Philip II and his son Alexander the Great. Following Athens's defeat by Macedonia, Phocion unsuccessfully sought mild terms of surrender. Oligarchy was imposed on democratic Athens, and more than twelve thousand "undesirable" Athenians were exiled.

In just eighty years, one small city invented democracy, philosophy, theater, and history — then tore itself apart in a catastrophic war. Between 480 and 399 BCE, Athens accomplished something no civilization has matched before or since. A city of perhaps 250,000 people — smaller than modern Boise — produced Pericles, Socrates, Sophocles, Euripides, Herodotus, Thucydides, and Aristophanes. They built the Parthenon. They invented democratic self-governance. They created the philosophical tradition that underpins Western thought. And then they launched a ruinous war that destroyed ...

The tragic story of ancient Greece's last democratic leader and his doomed fight to save Athens from Macedonian domination In the spring of 340 BCE, news arrived that Philip of Macedon had seized a town in central Greece, a base from which he could march on Athens. In the fierce debates about...

From classicist James Romm comes a “striking…fascinating” (Booklist) deep dive into the last decades of ancient Greek freedom leading up to Alexander the Great’s destruction of Thebes—and the saga of the greatest military corps of the time, the Theban Sacred Band, a unit composed of...

A new history of the world's most embattled idea. Today, democracy is the world's only broadly accepted political system, and yet it has become synonymous with disappointment and crisis. How did it come to this? In Can Democracy Work? James Miller, the author of the classic history of 1960s...

Most books about Athens tell you where to get the best view of the Acropolis. This one gives you the story behind what you’re seeing. Backstory Atlas Athens: 10 Reasons We Can’t Stop Visiting The Ancient Argument – A Guide to Its Travel History is a short, curated read that makes travel richer. It explores how a city with no great river, no easy geography, and no obvious path to global importance became one of the most influential destinations in human history. This is not a guidebook or a long, heavy history lesson. It is a short, curated read for travelers who want to know the story...

The United States of America has been the most powerful country in the world for more than 70 years, but recently the US National Security Strategy declared that the return of great power competition with Russia and China is the greatest threat to US national security. Further, many analysts predict that America's autocratic rivals will have at least some success in disrupting - and, in the longer term, possibly even displacing - US global leadership. Brilliant and engagingly written, The Return of Great Power Rivalry argues that this conventional wisdom is wrong.

From the leading scholars behind The Greek Plays, a collection of the best translations of the foremost Greek historians, presenting a sweeping history of ancient Greece as recorded by its first chroniclers “Just the thing to remind us that human history, though lamentably a work in progress...

In the twilight of an empire, one city dared to speak in the voice of freedom. Athens in Autumn: Democracy’s Final Flame is a sweeping historical narrative that plunges listeners into the final, fragile years of the Athenian experiment in democracy. Through the smoke of war, the clash of ideologies, and the quiet despair of a fading golden age, this powerful work brings to life the thinkers, warriors, traitors, and citizens who stood at the crossroads of history.

A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEAR An award-winning journalist and longtime Hong Konger indelibly captures the place, its people, and the untold history they are claiming, just as it is being erased. The story of Hong Kong has long been dominated by competing myths: to Britain, a...