Diotimos / Book Reviews

Books to think with.

A golden common carp leaps out of blue water, with droplets trailing from its fins and tail.

The Inland Cities

M. John Harrison's Goldsmiths Prize-winning novel follows two drifting middle-aged people, one by the Thames and one above the Severn Gorge, while something old and not quite human surfaces through the damp of Brexit-era England. A study guide and review in one, covering the story, the characters and key words, the novel chapter by chapter, its critics, and Charles Kingsley's sunken land.

Read Book Review →

The Parthenon on the Acropolis above cypress trees and orange foliage beneath a green-blue sky.

Book Reviews

The Polis Has Decided

John Ma follows the Greek city-state across fifteen centuries and moves its prime from classical Athens to the centuries after about 350 BC. A study guide and review in one, covering the argument, the key terms and figures, the book chapter by chapter, its critics, and what became of the idea of the polis.

Read Book Review →