This fascinating account is by a British TV host and popular historian. Walter Isaacson, noted author, reviewer and chief executive of the Aspen Institute, describes it as “many books interlaced: a biography of Socrates; a gritty description of daily life in Athens; a vivid history of the Peloponnesian War and its aftereffects; and – as an unexpected delight – a guide to museums, archaeological digs and repositories of ancient artifacts . . . . At one point we travel with her to the rear of the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, England to study a scrap of papyrus – Fragment 4807 – in the Sackler Library. It contains some lines, apparently by Sophocles, casting light on what life may have been like during the Peloponnesian War.

“With great spirit and diligence, Hughes is able to piece together a surprisingly vivid portrait of the hairy, slovenly son of a stonemason and midwife, who spends a lot of time at the gymnasium and holds philosophical discourses at shoe shops.”

The February book club meeting in Scarsdale was evidently a great success. For those who were unable to join the group who gathered afterwards in Rita Kaplan’s home to enjoy the youtube viewing of author Mary Beard in Rome, which was apparently a delight, we suggest you Google mary beard rome youtube on your computer and watch it at home.

Please note that the March 17 meeting is once again at the Greenburgh Library.