{"title":"Books by Robin Waterfield","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"9780197564752","title":"Plato of Athens","description":"The first ever biography of the founder of Western philosophy Considered by many to be the most important philosopher ever, Plato was born into a well-to-do family in wartime Athens at the end of the fifth century BCE. In his teens, he honed his intellect by attending lectures from the many thinkers who passed through Athens and toyed with the idea of writing poetry. He finally decided to go into politics, but became disillusioned, especially after the Athenians condemned his teacher, Socrates, to death. Instead, Plato turned to writing and teaching. He began teaching in his twenties and later founded the Academy, the world's first higher-educational research and teaching establishment. Eventually, he returned to practical politics and spent a considerable amount of time and energy trying to create a constitution for Syracuse in Sicily that would reflect and perpetuate some of his political ideals. The attempts failed, and Plato's disappointment can be traced in some of his later political works.In his lifetime and after, Plato was considered almost divine. Though a measure of his importance, this led to the invention of many tall tales about him-both by those who adored him and his detractors. In this first ever full-length portrait of Plato, Robin Waterfield steers a judicious course among these stories, debunking some while accepting the kernels of truth in others. He explains why Plato chose to write dialogues rather than treatises and gives an overview of the subject matter of all of Plato's books. Clearly and engagingly written throughout, Plato of Athens is the perfect introduction to the man and his work.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":57685718335861,"sku":"9780197797211","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Hardback","offer_id":43201500151986,"sku":"9780197564752","price":23.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780197797211.jpg?v=1792598880"},{"product_id":"9781780877488","title":"The Greek Myths","description":"The Greek Myths contains some of the most thrilling, romantic and unforgettable stories in all human history. From Achilles rampant on the fields of Troy, to the gods at sport on Mount Olympus, from Icarus flying too close to the sun, to the superhuman feats of Heracles, Theseus and the wily Odysseus, these timeless tales exert a fascination and inspiration that have endured for millennia. There are few people as steeped in the Ancient World as Robin and Kathryn Waterfield, and in their hands the heroism, humour, mystery, sensuality and brutality of the Greek Myths are brought brilliantly to life.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43403432198322,"sku":"9781780877488","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781780877488_c88c6d52-ed68-44dc-9297-deb7ad62da59.jpg?v=1786025412"},{"product_id":"9781399814713","title":"The History of the Peloponnesian War","description":"SHORTLISTED FOR THE INTERNATIONAL HELLENIC PRIZEA HISTORY TODAY BOOK OF THE YEARAn authoritative translation of Thucydides's masterpiece.   Thucydides has been essential reading for centuries. A sweeping narrative of the war between Athens and Sparta that began in 431 BCE and would continue until 404. The only existing contemporary narrative of this conflict, Thucydides's words brim with military, moral and political reflections on challenges that still dominate our world today, from the strife of civil war, to the devastation of widespread plague to the nature of political power.    In this dazzling new translation of one of the great masterworks of classical Greece, Robin Waterfield's version of The History of the Peloponnesian War offers an incisive and timely window onto the nature and causes of warfare.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":57682813813109,"sku":"9781399814737","price":16.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Hardback","offer_id":55896415994229,"sku":"9781399814713","price":35.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781399814737_d4a93564-4d4b-48b3-b1c2-a36caded178f.jpg?v=1792511661"},{"product_id":"9780198853121","title":"Creators, Conquerors, and Citizens","description":"'WE GREEKS ARE ONE IN BLOOD AND ONE IN LANGUAGE; WE HAVE TEMPLES TO THE GODS AND RELIGIOUS RITES IN COMMON, AND A COMMON WAY OF LIFE.' So the fifth-century historian Herodotus has the Athenians declare, in explanation of why they would never betray their fellow Greeks to their 'barbarian' Persian enemy. And he could easily have added other common features to this list, such as clothing, culinary traditions, and political institutions. But if the Greeks understood their kinship to one another, why did so many of them fight for the invading Persians? And why, more generally, is ancient Greek history so often one of internecine wars and other, less violent forms of competition? This extraordinary contradiction is the central theme of Robin Waterfield's magisterial new history of ancient Greece. From their emergence in the Mediterranean around 750 BCE to the Roman conquest of the last of the Greco-Macedonian kingdoms in 30 BCE, this is the complete story of the ancient Greeks. Equal weight is given to all eras of Greek history-the Archaic, Classical, and Hellenistic periods-and to the celebrated figures who shaped it, from Solon and Pericles to Alexander and Cleopatra. In addition, by incorporating the most recent scholarship in classical history and archaeology, the book provides fascinating insights into Greek law, religion, philosophy, drama, and the role of women and slaves in ancient Greek society. A brilliant account of a remarkable civilization, Creators, Conquerors, and Citizens presents a comprehensive and compelling portrait of the perennial paradox of ancient Greece: political disunity combined with underlying cultural solidarity.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56226685387125,"sku":"9780198853121","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780198853121_e886fb95-2005-4493-b276-ab707817f2ee.jpg?v=1786012401"},{"product_id":"9780198767473","title":"Taken at the Flood","description":"The Romans first set military foot on Greek soil in 229 BCE; only sixty or so years later it was all over, and shortly thereafter Greece became one of the first provinces of the emerging Roman Empire. It was an incredible journey - a swift, brutal, and determined conquest of the land to whose art, philosophy, and culture the Romans owed so much. Rome found the eastern Mediterranean divided, in an unstable balance of power, between three great kingdoms - the three Hellenistic kingdoms that had survived and flourished after the wars of Alexander the Great's Successors: Macedon, Egypt, and Syria. Internal troubles took Egypt more or less out of the picture, but the other two were reduced by Rome. Having established itself, by its defeat of Carthage, as the sole superpower in the western Mediterranean, Rome then systematically went about doing the same in the east, until the entire Mediterranean was under her control. Apart from the thrilling military action, the story of the Roman conquest of Greece is central to the story of Rome itself and the empire it created. As Robin Waterfield shows, the Romans developed a highly sophisticated method of dominance by remote control over the Greeks of the eastern Mediterranean - the cheap option of using authority and diplomacy to keep order rather than standing armies. And it is a story that raises a number of fascinating questions about Rome, her empire, and her civilization. For instance, to what extent was the Roman conquest a planned and deliberate policy? What was it about Roman culture that gave it such a will for conquest? And what was the effect on Roman intellectual and artistic culture, on their very identity, of their entanglement with an older Greek civilization, which the Romans themselves recognized as supreme?","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":56226838413685,"sku":"9780198767473","price":13.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Hardback","offer_id":57688226988405,"sku":"9780199656462","price":24.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780198767473.jpg?v=1792686165"},{"product_id":"9780198853015","title":"The Making of a King","description":"In the third century BCE, Macedon dominated mainland Greece, but was rapidly descending into chaos. One of the consequences was a massive invasion of Celts, who ravaged and plundered Macedon and northern Greece for several years. Antigonus Gonatas, son of one of Alexander the Great's Successors, finally defeated the Celts and laid the foundations for a long but troubled reign (276-239 BCE). In order to achieve stability, he adopted repressive measures towards many of the Greek cities. The Making of a King is the first book in more than a century to tell the gripping story of Antigonus' rule: how he gained the throne, how he held it, the nature of his court, the measures he took towards the Greeks, and their responses. While Antigonus was confirming his rule in Macedon by introducing constitutional changes there, the Greeks were making their own changes. Their only hope for independence lay in greater unity. Two great confederacies of Greek cities emerged: the Aetolians in central Greece, and the Achaeans in the Peloponnese. Robin Waterfield charts Antigonus' conflicts with the Greeks and with his perennial enemy, Ptolemy of Egypt. Successes, both diplomatic and military, against these enemies in the 260s and 250s BCE were not enough to gain him peace, and in his final years he saw his control of Greece whittled away by rebellion and the Greek confederacies. Ultimately, the lack of firm control of Greece by Macedon made it possible for Rome to take its place as the arbiter of the Greeks' future.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56227100524917,"sku":"9780198853015","price":28.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780198853015_14a48065-6439-47c7-8257-fe7aa0973d84.jpg?v=1786012398"},{"product_id":"9780199647002","title":"Dividing the Spoils","description":"This is the story of one of the great forgotten wars of history - which led to the division of one of the biggest empires the world has ever seen. Alexander the Great built up his huge empire in little more than a decade, stretching from Greece in the West, via Egypt, Syria, Babylonia, and Persia through to the Indian sub-continent in the East. After his death in 323 BC, it took forty years of world-changing warfare for his heirs to finish carving up these vast conquests. These years were filled with high adventure, intrigue, passion, assassinations, dynastic marriages, treachery, shifting alliances, and mass slaughter on battlefield after battlefield. And while the men fought on the field, the women schemed from their palaces and pavilions. Dividing the Spoils revives the memory of Alexander's Successors, whose fame has been dimmed only because they stand in his enormous shadow. In fact, Alexander left things in a mess at the time of his death, with no guaranteed succession, no administration in place suitable for such an enormous realm, and huge untamed areas both bordering and within his 'empire'. The Successors consolidated the Conqueror's gains. Their competing ambitions, however, meant that consolidation inevitably led to the break-up of the empire. Astonishingly, this period of brutal, cynical warfare was also characterized by brilliant cultural developments, especially in the fields of philosophy, literature, and art. As well as an account of the military action, this is also the story of an amazing cultural flowering. In some senses, a new world emerged from the dust and haze of battle - the world of Hellenistic Greece. A surprising amount of the history of many countries, from Greece to Afghanistan, began in the hearts and minds of the Successors of Alexander the Great. As this book demonstrates, their stories deserve to be better known.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56227146662261,"sku":"9780199647002","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780199647002_cad7aef3-8c4a-4a46-b748-a393969f31bd.jpg?v=1786012535"},{"product_id":"9780571223848","title":"Xenophon's Retreat","description":"\u003cp\u003eIt is 401 BC. After an epic battle in Persia, Xenophon is elected general of the defeated Greek army and must lead the men on a fraught journey back home - a journey of hundreds of miles, north from modern-day Iraq into the mountains of Kurdistan and Armenia, and down to the coast of the Black Sea, fighting all the way, harried on all sides by Persian forces, wild mountain tribesmen, and a bitter winter...\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA gripping adventure full of drama, human interest, strong characters, pathos, and triumph.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56292045259125,"sku":"9780571223848","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780571223848_f529ce1b-3d7f-4f82-9440-1f37345079c4.jpg?v=1786013662"},{"product_id":"9780571235513","title":"Why Socrates Died","description":"Socrates' trial and death together form an iconic moment in Western civilization. The picture we have of it - created by his immediate followers and perpetuated in countless works of literature and art ever since - is that a noble man was put to death in a fit of folly by the ancient Athenian democracy. But an icon, an image, is not reality. The trial was, in part, a response to troubled times - a catastrophic war and turbulent social changes - and so provides a good lens through which to explore the history of the period; the historical facts allow us to strip away some of the veneer that has for so long denied us glimpses of the real Socrates. Written by a scholar, but not only for scholars, this is an accessible, authoritative account of one of the defining periods of Western civilization.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56292475732341,"sku":"9780571235513","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780571235513_c8937302-2427-4a34-9851-7b7cc3f961d6.jpg?v=1786013854"},{"product_id":"9781541673861","title":"Meditations","description":"\u003cb\u003eFor both new and longtime readers, Robin Waterfield’s definitive translation and rich annotations offer everything they need to understand one of the most powerful works of practical philosophy ever written.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “A treat (and an eye-opening experience) … If you haven’t read Marcus Aurelius or if you have…you should read this book and then read it again.”―\u003ci\u003eRyan Holiday, bestselling author of The Daily Stoic\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e An inexhaustible source of wisdom, \u003ci\u003eMeditations \u003c\/i\u003eis one of the greatest works of popular philosophy ever written. As Roman emperor, Marcus Aurelius was the most powerful man in the world, yet he was also an intensely private person with a rich interior life and one of the wisest minds of his generation. He collected his thoughts in notebooks, the entries ranging from one-line aphorisms to essays, from profundity to bitterness, but always with an eye to how one can live with dignity and thrive in an adverse world. This edition offers the definitive translation of this much beloved text. Copious notes from world-renowned classics expert Robin Waterfield enrich the understanding of even the most devoted Stoic, while guiding those new to the text through Marcus Aurelius’ world and the timeless insights he offers.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":56303882436981,"sku":"9781541673861","price":16.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Hardback","offer_id":57688188158325,"sku":"9781541673854","price":28.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781541673861.jpg?v=1792686102"},{"product_id":"9781541604841","title":"Aesop's Fables","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eFrom a renowned scholar and translator, a new translation of Aesop’s fables.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"Lively and colloquial.\" —\u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eWall Street Journal\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAesop’s fables are among the most familiar and best-loved stories in the world. 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