Ancient World

Mythological beings were ever-present in the world for ancient Egyptians. Author Garry J. Shaw introduces his five best books to get started, from guides to source texts to lavish illustrations. He tells us why the worst parts were never written down, where to look for ghosts and magical spells, why the north is less well understood than the south, and why life is less well understood than the elaborate rituals of death.

Though culture, society, and technology were very different in the ancient world, human minds and relationships still functioned in very similar ways, argues Ferdia Lennon—author of Glorious Exploits, set during the Peloponnesian War. Here he recommends five novels set during the Classical era that serve, in their own ways, as mirrors of the present.

Intellectual historian James Turner describes how the once vast and unified field of philology was chopped up in the 20th century to make the different disciplines of the humanities.

British philosopher Edward Skidelsky tells us about virtue from Plato to the modern day, and says Jane Austen got it right when she wrote about passion