Description
Mary Beard's by now famous blog A Don's Life has been running on the TLS website for nearly three years. In it she has made her name as a wickedly subversive commentator on the world in which we live. Her central themes are the classics, universities and teaching -- and much else besides. What are academics for? Who was the first African Roman emperor? Looting -- ancient and modern. Are modern exams easier? Keep lesbos for the lesbians. Did St Valentine exist? What made the Romans laugh? That is just a small taste of this selection (and some of the choicer responses) which will inform, occasionally provoke and cannot fail to entertain.
Britain's best known classicist speaks her mind on the ancient, and modern, worlds. A wide-ranging selection from her 'best hit' blog.
About the Author
Mary Beard is a professor of classics at Newnham College, Cambridge, and the classics editor of the TLS. She has world-wide academic acclaim. Her previous books include the bestselling, Wolfson Prize-winning Pompeii, The Roman Triumph, The Parthenon and Confronting the Classics. Her blog has been collected in the books It's a Don's Life and All in a Don's Day. She is in the 2014 top 10 Prospect list of the most influential thinkers in the world.
Reviews
Delightful ... it has the virtues of brevity, eclecticism and learning worn lightly ... Beard is a very funny and penetrating commentator on academic life - and has a fantastic knack for controversy. If they'd had Mary Beard on their side back then, the Romans would still have their empire -- Sam Leith * Daily Mail *
Enjoyable ... Beard is an exuberant communicator -- Dinah Birch * Observer *
Sharply observed, often hilarious slices of academic life -- Charlotte Higgins * Guardian *
Beard's studies of bygone times are infused with a peppering of wit that is unusual in an academic work, but given free rein here -- Julian Fleming * Sunday Business Post *
This collection of her posts is pithy and engaging. The casual, humorous tone is seemingly informal. But the rhythm and cadence of the short blog have been honed to a fine art ... Beard remains self-deprecatory, invigoratingly sane and zestful -- Frances Spalding * Independent *
The marvellously educative, hilarious It's a Don's Life by Mary Beard, the blogging queen -- Jane Gardam * Daily Telegraph *
Beard has a spry, pithy, conversational style ... a diverting read -- Edmund Gordon * Sunday Times *
Well-written, in short column-length bursts, it's the thinking person's loo book -- Alastair Mabbott * Glasgow Herald *
It's a Don's Life is, by turns, enlightening, funny, outrageous * Weekend Australian *
Book Information
ISBN 9781846682513
Author Professor Mary Beard
Format Paperback
Page Count 288
Imprint Profile Books Ltd
Publisher Profile Books Ltd
Weight(grams) 210g
Dimensions(mm) 196mm * 128mm * 22mm
Britain's best known classicist speaks her mind on the ancient, and modern, worlds. A wide-ranging selection from her 'best hit' blog.
About the Author
Mary Beard is a professor of classics at Newnham College, Cambridge, and the classics editor of the TLS. She has world-wide academic acclaim. Her previous books include the bestselling, Wolfson Prize-winning Pompeii, The Roman Triumph, The Parthenon and Confronting the Classics. Her blog has been collected in the books It's a Don's Life and All in a Don's Day. She is in the 2014 top 10 Prospect list of the most influential thinkers in the world.
Reviews
Delightful ... it has the virtues of brevity, eclecticism and learning worn lightly ... Beard is a very funny and penetrating commentator on academic life - and has a fantastic knack for controversy. If they'd had Mary Beard on their side back then, the Romans would still have their empire -- Sam Leith * Daily Mail *
Enjoyable ... Beard is an exuberant communicator -- Dinah Birch * Observer *
Sharply observed, often hilarious slices of academic life -- Charlotte Higgins * Guardian *
Beard's studies of bygone times are infused with a peppering of wit that is unusual in an academic work, but given free rein here -- Julian Fleming * Sunday Business Post *
This collection of her posts is pithy and engaging. The casual, humorous tone is seemingly informal. But the rhythm and cadence of the short blog have been honed to a fine art ... Beard remains self-deprecatory, invigoratingly sane and zestful -- Frances Spalding * Independent *
The marvellously educative, hilarious It's a Don's Life by Mary Beard, the blogging queen -- Jane Gardam * Daily Telegraph *
Beard has a spry, pithy, conversational style ... a diverting read -- Edmund Gordon * Sunday Times *
Well-written, in short column-length bursts, it's the thinking person's loo book -- Alastair Mabbott * Glasgow Herald *
It's a Don's Life is, by turns, enlightening, funny, outrageous * Weekend Australian *
Book Information
ISBN 9781846682513
Author Professor Mary Beard
Format Paperback
Page Count 288
Imprint Profile Books Ltd
Publisher Profile Books Ltd
Weight(grams) 210g
Dimensions(mm) 196mm * 128mm * 22mm
