Best Selling Books by Peter GREEN

Until recently, popular biographers and most scholars viewed Alexander the Great as a genius with a plan, a romantic figure pursuing his vision of a united world. His dream was at times characterized as a benevolent interest in the brotherhood of man, sometimes as a brute interest in the exercise of power. Green, a Cambridge-trained classicist who is also a novelist, portrays Alexander as both a complex personality and a single-minded general, a man capable of such diverse expediencies as patricide or the massacre of civilians. Green describes his Alexander as "not only the most brilliant (and ambitious) field commander in history, but also supremely indifferent to all those administrative excellences and idealistic yearnings foisted upon him by later generations, especially those who found the conqueror, tout court, a little hard upon their liberal sensibilities." This biography begins not with one of the universally known incidents of Alexander''s life, but with an account of his father, Philip of Macedonia, whose many-territoried empire was the first on the continent of Europe to have an effectively centralized government and military. What Philip and Macedonia had to offer, Alexander made his own, but Philip and Macedonia also made Alexander form an important context for understanding Alexander himself. Yet his origins and training do not fully explain the man. After he was named hegemon of the Hellenic League, many philosophers came to congratulate Alexander, but one was conspicuous by his absence: Diogenes the Cynic, an ascetic who lived in a clay tub. Piqued and curious, Alexander himself visited the philosopher, who, when asked if there was anything Alexander could do for him, made the famous reply, "Don''t stand between me and the sun." Alexander''s courtiers jeered, but Alexander silenced them: "If I were not Alexander, I would be Diogenes." This remark was as unexpected in Alexander as it would be in a modern leader. For the general reader, the book, redolent with gritty details and fully aware of Alexander''s darker side, offers a gripping tale of Alexander''s career. Full backnotes, fourteen maps, and chronological and genealogical tables serve readers with more specialized interests.

In a collection of sixteen literary and historical essays, classics scholar Peter Green covers a wide range of subjects--from the mysteries of the Delphic Oracle to Victorian pederasty--and reveals his serious concern that we are losing the legacy of antiquity through the corrosive methodologies of modern academic criticism.

Green provides accounts of both Persian and Greek strategies which are both clear and persuasive. He displays everyday details regarding the lives of soldiers, statesmen, and ordinary citizens

A meticulous analysis of Hellenistic culture spanning three centuries, from the death of Alexander the Great in 325 B.C. Green surveys every significant aspect of Hellenistic cultural development in this colorful, complex period that will fascinate all readers. 217 illustrations, 30 maps.

A masterly narrative survey of 300 years from Alexander''s conquest and empire to the triumph of Rome.

A lively combination of scholarship and unorthodoxy makes these studies in ancient history and literature unusually rewarding. Few of the objects of conventional admiration gain much support from Peter Green (Pericles and the "democracy" of fifth-century Athens are treated to a very cool scrutiny) but he has a warm regard for the real virtues of antiquity and for those who spoke with "an individual voice." The studies cover both history and literature, Greece and Rome. They range from the real nature of Athenian society to poets as diverse as Sappho and Juvenal, and all of them, without laboring any parallels, make the ancient world immediately relevant to our own. (There is, for example, a very perceptive essay on how classical history often becomes a vehicle for the historian''s own political beliefs and fantasies of power.) The student of classical history will find plenty in this book to enrich his own studies. The general reader will enjoy the vision of a classical world which differs radically from what he probably expects.

"I hadn''t, till I really started digging, gauged the fierce intensity of the need for myth in the human psyche, of any age, or sensed the variety of motives dictating that need," writes Peter Green in the introduction to this wide-ranging collection of essays on classical mythology and the mythic experience. Using the need for myth as the starting point for exploring a number of topics in Greek mythology and history, Green advances new ideas about why the human urge to make myths persists across the millennia and why the borderland between mythology and history can sometimes be hard to map. Green looks at both specific problems in classical mythology and larger theoretical issues. His explorations underscore how mythic expression opens a door into non-rational and quasi-rational modes of thought in which it becomes possible to rewrite painful truths and unacceptable history—which is, Green argues, a dangerous enterprise. His study of the intersections between classical mythology and Greek history ultimately drives home a larger point, "the degree of mythification and deception (of oneself no less than of others) of which the human mind is capable."

An up-to-date, detailed, and fully-illustrated account of the biodiversity and status of coral reefs.

Scholar, historian, novelist, and professor of classics at the University of Texas (Austin), Peter Green recreates the life and times of the Greek lyric poet Sappho. The surviving fragments of Sappho''s poetry reveal a mature woman of unflinching honesty. Sappho and her daily life on the island of ancient Lesbos are brought vividly to life via Green''s extraordinary talent. This work was first published in 1965.

Frank Vogel has developed a unique line of hair-care products and needs money to grow. When he runs an ad in The New York Times asking for investors, Thomas Harwood replies and agrees to invest three million dollars to get the products into the market. Harwood claims that his money is coming from a settlement with the federal government that involves a bank in Colorado and the government bailout of the Savings and Loan industry in the 1980s. He tells Vogel that he''s signed a confidentiality agreement and can''t say any more about it. Nine months later, he''s still saying the same thing, while Vogel teeters on the verge of bankruptcy. After contacting other companies in which Harwood has promised to invest, Vogel learns an interesting fact: they''re all desperate for capital and Harwood''s been giving them all the same runaround. Finally, Harwood informs Vogel that there''s been a breakthrough. The government has agreed to pay him and everyone will get their money. But before the payout date comes, Harwood is found dead on the side of the road. Is it a hit-and-run accident, or is it cold-blooded murder?

During the final days of the Second World War, for 900 Allied officers held by the Germans, freedom was still a world away. Marched east by their captors, away from the liberating American forces, March and April 1945 was a time of great trials, at the mercy of vengeful Nazis and Allied air raids. Amongst their number were men whose names would become famous post-war, such as actor Desmond Llewellyn, cabinet minister Frederick Corfield and Major Bruce Shand, father of the Duchess of Cornwall. The March East 1945 draws on official and eyewitness accounts, as well as over 30 diaries and memoirs. With more than 120 photographs and exceptional illustrations taken and drawn by PoWs as well as the German instructions for camp evacuation, it reveals the human story that unfolded in Hesse, Thuringia and Saxony, and explains how the prisoners survived until their final liberation.

A survey of the work of Andrei Tarkovsky, the Russian film-maker who lived from 1932-1986. It is a critical examination of his films in the light of his own writings and life, his aesthetics of film, his theory of time in cinematography and an attempt to comprehend his vision.

The second volume in Simone de Beauvoir’s celebrated autobiography recalls her formative years in Paris when she began to emerge as a public figure First published in 1960, The Prime of Life offers an intimate, captivating picture of Simone de Beauvoir in her twenties, thirties and forties. Beginning as a recent graduate from the Sorbonne teaching high-school girls, we see de Beauvoir revel in the freedom her new financial independence brings. We see her and Jean-Paul Sartre recognise the powerful romantic and intellectual partnership they have found in one another, as they fall in love and define their own unconventional parameters. The Second World War comes, bringing austerity, violence and questions of the reality of freedom and individual responsibility into de Beauvoir’s life. As relevant and penetrating as when first published, The Prime of Life offers rare insight into a truly fascinating mind.

From the creators of Monster Circus and A Secret Sydney. Believe! Let the fairies take you on an iconic adventure through New York City''s heart and soul. Discover the secret beauty of the Statue of Liberty. Reach the mesmerizing heights of the Empire State Building. Play with the fairies of Central Park. Shop at fashionable 5th Avenue and celebrate the arrival of the New Year at Times Square. Immerse yourself in hustle and bustle of USA''s most fascinating city in a whole new perspective. Experience the wonder and joy of A Secret New York.

''Exams tend to corrupt; final exams corrupt finally.'' This novel is about exams, literature, sex, cancer and time. Part 1: 1961: Examining a mind. Pembroke College, Cambridge. Peter Green and his friends Jack (big, dangerous) and Casey (small, sinister) face final examinations in English. Keen, they discuss their literary ideas. Peter, whose main study-aid is sexual pleasure, discards lissom Arabella, one of his two girlfriends. Competitive exams apparently subvert left-wing ideals. He alienates a don, Haggerty. Discoverer of literary ''covert plotting'', Peter overlooks real-life covert plots. Part 2: 1969: Examining a campus. Sussex University. Jack, tricked by Haggerty, lectures there. Peter quarrels with radical students. Part 3: 2011: Examining a body. Hospitals in and around London. Peter undergoes intimate examinations. Death makes incursions. Now what use is the study of literature?

She could see the lights of the train and the parking lot, but where she was standing was pitch black. She took out her silver vial and unscrewed the top. She scooped out a pile of cocaine with the little spoon and snorted it up one nostril, then the other. It was an exquisite moment as the drug charged through her brain like a stampede of white lightning. Hot damn, she whispered, and gave her head a little shake as she exhaled. She felt so good. So perfect. Because of the deal she''d just pulled off . And the money she was going to make. And handsome Marc, waiting for her in the City with all of that cocaine. A spasm of euphoria coursed through her body in a delicious wave of pleasure. Neurons and endorphins danced in her brain like fi reworks on the Fourth of July. She''d never been so happy. She''s about to light a cigarette when the lights start to dim. It happens so quickly there''s no time to react. Th ere''s just a hint of pain, but it''s too brief to register. Th en there''s nothing. Only blackness. And just like that Sandra Ellison''s life is at an end. Like someone reached in and turned off the set. Her set. Th at''s how quickly it happened. She was dead before she hit the ground.

Essays on Homer, Greek historiography, philosophy, Julius Caesar, Roman literature, and other classical subjects.

As in her Tony Award–winning Metamorphoses, Mary Zimmerman transforms Greek mythology—here the story of Jason and the Argonauts—into a mesmerizing piece of theater. Encountering an array of daunting challenges in their “first voyage of the world,” Jason and his crew illustrate the essence of all such journeys to follow—their unpredictability, their inspiring and overwhelming breadth of emotion, their lessons in the inevitability of failure and loss. Bursts of humor and fantastical creatures enrich a story whose characters reveal remarkable complexity. Medea is profoundly sympathetic even as the seeds are sown for the monstrous life ahead of her, and the brute strength of Hercules leaves him no less vulnerable to the vicissitudes of love. Zimmerman brings to Argonautika her trademark ability to encompass the full range of human experience in a work as entertaining as it is enlightening.

And now for something completely different - Simon Callow, theatrical treasure extraordinaire, reprises a success from early in his career. The writer, Juvenal born circa 55AD, wrote sixteen satires that attacked the decadence of Rome in its heyday. Here adapted by Richard Quick we are given a view into the moral decline that is as relevant now as it was back then.