2013
First Published
3.60
Average Rating
242
Number of Pages
Part of Series
Victorian Britain set out to make the ancient world its own. This is the story of how it failed. It is the story of the headmaster who bludgeoned his wife to death, then calmly sat down to his Latin. It is the story of the embittered classical prodigy who turned to gin and opium – and the virtuoso forger who fooled the greatest scholars of the age. It is a history of a general who longed to be an Homeric hero, a bankrupt poet who longed to start a revolution. Victorian classicism was defined by hope – but shaped by uncertainty. Packed with forgotten characters and texts, with the roar of the burlesque-stage and the mud of the battlefield, this book offers a rich insight into nineteenth-century culture and society. It explores just how difficult it is to stake a claim on the past.
Avg Rating
3.60
Number of Ratings
5
5 STARS
20%
4 STARS
60%
3 STARS
0%
2 STARS
0%
1 STARS
20%
goodreads
Author
Edmund Richardson
Author · 3 books
Edmund Richardson is Professor of Classics at Durham University. He was named one of the BBC New Generation Thinkers. He is the author of 'Alexandria: The Quest for the Lost City' (Bloomsbury) and 'The King's Shadow: Obsession, Betrayal, and the Deadly Quest for the Lost City of Alexandria' (2022) (St Martin's Press).
