A Modern Plutarch
By (Author) Robert Lloyd George
Duckworth Overlook
Gerald Duckworth & Co Ltd
1st December 2016
United Kingdom
General
Non Fiction
Collected biographies
General and world history
History of ideas
920.02
Hardback
352
Width 156mm, Height 234mm
662g
One of the most significant and enduring texts to have survived from Ancient Greece is Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans, written by Plutarch in the first century AD. In the work, the man known as the 'Father of Biography' paired off the most notable and influential figures of the classical world, placing their lives and legacies next to each other, allowing the comparisons and juxtapositions to reveal new truths about famous men his readers already knew and revered. He compared Demosthenes with Cicero, Alexander the Great with Julius Caesar; the result was an intellectual masterpiece still referred to by historians today. In A Modern Plutarch, Robert Lloyd George applies this model of biography to many of the most recognizable figures, new and old, of American and British history. George compares select politicians, generals, scientists, and social and religious activists, drawing parallels between their lives and minds while revealing the traits that made them unique. Whether it's Churchill placed next to Lincoln, Darwin compared to James Watson, or any of George's other memorable pairings, A Modern Plutarch uses an ancient method of comparison to show us new features of many of the great thinkers in the Western world.
Robert Lloyd George is the author of several books, including David and Winston, a comparative look at Winston Churchill, also published by The Overlook Press. He has written extensively on global economics, specifically on the relationship between the economies of the Eastern and Western world.