The Muse of History

In this erudite and elegant book, Oswyn Murray examines how the history of Greece has been written from the Enlightenment to our own dark time. He follows historians as they travel, to explore Greek sites or to flee persecution; he examines scholarly traditions and institutions as they take shape; he catches new and powerful theses as they crystallize. Above all, he reveals the historians themselves, in all their complex humanity. It's a marvellous story, full of life and told with wit and warmth -- Anthony Grafton, author of Magus Oswyn Murray, a foremost historian of western antiquity, here combines trenchant historiographical analysis with biographical snapshots of a host of colourful and innovative classical scholars, many of whom he knew personally. The Muse of History is written with passion, wit, and the firm conviction that ancient history always has, and always will, be of great importance and interest to us all -- Suzanne Marchand, author of Porcelain: A History from the Heart of Europe Our greatest historian of archaic and classical Greece traces the formation and development of Ancient History amidst the often tragic events of post-Enlightenment Europe. A profound, inspiring and deeply personal book -- Paul Kosmin, author of Time and its Adversaries in the Seleucid Empire This is intellectual history at its best, amply demonstrating how modern authors, famous and forgotten alike, repeatedly and dynamically recast the ancient foundations on which the ideals and the very idea of Western civilization have continued to be constructed -- Kenneth Lapatin, Curator of Antiquities, The Paul J. Getty Museum A quietly amazing book, written with an elegance and insight worthy of his mentor Arnaldo Momigliano -- Nino Luraghi, Wykeham Professor of Greek History, University of Oxford