A great little book about fun facts related to ancient Rome and Greece. The value of this book is the connecting of history and language usage which readers need to know about before engaging classical literature. There are ten short chapters for easy reading and rereading. This is categorized as a reference work and it is, in essay form. Covers religion and mythology, words & phrases, history, literature, art & architecture, science, philosophy, and the Olympic Games.
Published by Readers Digest, but I got this somewhere I don't remember. Maybe it was a subscriber bonus. Taggart has written another volume for Readers Digest titled I Used to Know That.
Bibliography and Name Index. ( )

A fun, and short, romp through everything you wanted to know about the ancient classics, but were afraid to ask, or attempt to remember. Don't know your Aeneid from Aphrodite? Nil desperandum; this book is for you. ( )

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. ( )

Do you ever find yourself reading along, and when you come to a reference to ancient Greece or Rome, you start scratching your head? With sort of a, "I think I heard something about that somewhere, but I don't remember much about it" kind of thought?

This is the book for you.

Caroline Taggart has put together a short (169 pages) primer/refresher for all that ancient stuff that you used to know but that has fallen by the wayside. Or maybe you never learned it in the first place.

For such a short book, Taggart has packed a surprising amount of information into it. Topics covered include language, mythology, philosophy, history, the arts, the sciences, and a few more things. You won't read the book and be an expert by any means, but you will certainly have a decent base of knowledge to work from.

The book might sound boring, but Taggart's style is actually pretty fun. "Atlas was inhospitable to Perseus (see page 47), who used the head of Medusa to turn him into a mountain range in North Africa, which takes almost as much talent as cutting someone's head off while looking at their reflection in a shield, and makes me think that Perseus could have taught David Copperfield a thing or two." She also occasionally mentions modern-day references to these ancient stories. "The first famous figure to emerge from this was Draco, who has given his name to very harsh measures in any context, as well as to a character in Harry Potter who provokes the audience to hiss whenever he appears."

It's very good for what it is, but after suffering through a 10th-grade English teacher who seemed to think that World Literature meant Greek and Roman Literature and a Greek and Roman Culture class in college, I think I've absorbed all I'm going to absorb on the topic. I won't say that there was nothing new in this book for me--there definitely was--but it wasn't anything that I'll ever remember. The cross-references (see paragraph 5), while a good idea, got distracting on a straight read. They would be invaluable if you were just looking up a quick little reference though.

I do recommend this for anyone who wants to fill in the gaps in their classical knowledge, because it really is a fun book, but it might be a little too basic for someone with a decent working knowledge of the Greeks and Romans already.

Thanks to the publicist for sending me a copy for review. ( )

Caroline Taggart has written another fun and fascinating book, "The Classics". The author of "I used to Know That", has pulled together "All you need to know from Zeus's Throne to the Fall of Rome".

Gods and Goddesses, architecture, law, math, literature are all explained, in an easy to understand format. The Mythology section was so interesting as well as the section on the section on words given us by he ancients. I am such a sucker for words!

The Iliad and The Odyssey, classical theater in a semi circle for better acoustics, logic, and so many IDEAS, came from the the people of Rome and Greece. Ideas we are still using today.
The Hippocratic Oath, even our calender,, Democracy, and Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian columns can be attributed to the wise thinkers of ancient times.

A refresher for us older folks, and a wonderful taste for students, this book is for anyone who has an interest in our past, and where things/ideas come from!

I received this book from Julie at FSB Associates for review. Thanks so much! ( )