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A Classical Education

The Stuff You Wish You'd been Taught at School

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A Classical Education

By: Caroline Taggart
Narrated by: Bill Wallis
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About this listen

Is the Greek alphabet all Greek to you? Is geometry your Achilles heel and does your knowledge of Homer have more to do with The Simpsons than the Sirens?

From engineering and architecture to drama and democracy, the world around us is founded on the principles and discoveries of the Ancient World, yet our understanding of it is episodic at best.

So if you've ever struggled with Socrates, wished you could formulate a logical argument, or wondered whether the Romans really dined at vomitoria, then carpe diem and listen to this audiobook - it's never too late to learn.

©2009 Michael O'Mara Books Ltd (P)2014 Audible, Inc. Ancient Europe Greece Rome World Witty Funny Thought-Provoking Inspiring Ancient Greece Ancient History Greek Mythology

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Editor reviews

The complete guide to a classical education is heard in A Classical Education: The Stuff You Wish You’d Been Taught at School written by freelance editor Caroline Taggart and narrated in this audiobook by British actor and voice artist Bill Wallis. The scope and depth of research in this book is staggering. It covers innumerable topics of educational and historical significance. Listeners are taken to the roots of ancient civilisations, learning how the first pioneers in these subjects made advancements that paved the way for the world we live in today. Available now from Audible.
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A little odd having the obvious female voice of the author read by a man, especially as some of the jokes about the place of women are written in a very personal style, but once you learn to treat Bill Wallis as a woman it's very worthwhile! Worth a listen as a fairly short title. Very enjoyable.

An amusing run through

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Loved the content and the narration. Learnt a lot and has piqued my interest in further reading more about classical history

Fun and educational

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Well researched. Covers a vast scope. However not suitable for a younger audience, as there are many vulgar references and innuendos.

Very interesting - but sometimes vulgar

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Lots of fun facts, brilliantly brought to life by the narration.

Recommended listening for all.

Outstanding narrator!

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I thoroughly enjoyed this and I have next to no background in classical education so thought I wouldn’t like it much

Brilliant and entertaining

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A serious title, well worth listening to. It is worth saying, though, that if you, as I, know your school latin and etymology already, it delivers too few new discoveries to keep up interest.

Only if you lack a classical education

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Great voice, good humour and cracking information. Will buy more spoken by Bill Wallis.

Great voice, good humour and cracking information.

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Searching for Caroline through the narration, almost as ironic, as Marcus Auralius,and his offspring.

A virtual Triumph.No really!...Wisdom with wit.

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What made the experience of listening to A Classical Education the most enjoyable?

The combination of written style and the way of narration made this book beyond perfect, at least for me.

What does Bill Wallis bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

His way of narrating exceeded my expectations. If I go back to this book in the future, it will be by a big part due to his performance.

Any additional comments?

It has been ages ago since I have purchased the book and I was delaying listening to it as, for me, it represents only a repetition of something I already know. Well, I did not expect such a vivid style of writing combined with a superb and far from boring narration. This is a topic that could be handled in a formal rather dry manner, however Caroline Taggart managed not only to add a humorous side to it all but also added quite a few facts I was not aware of. I really enjoyed her style. To choose Bill Wallis as an interpret was an excellent idea. I believe that some might not appreciate his way of speech, but for me he added even biger value to already well written book. I intend to purchase other books by the author and the narator, alas, they have not combined them in more audiobooks and they go separately since now on.

I would recommend this not only to people interested in the given period but also to students whose curriculum includes parts of classical education. Good way to start digging deeper in the topic.

Surprisingly good!

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I very much enjoyed this book. I was rather hoping it would be read by the author. However, the narrator was perfect and caught the style and the author’s huge wit marvellously.

Wonderful book, beautiful read

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