Women & Power

A year on from the allegations against Harvey Weinstein and the beginnings of #metoo movement Mary Beard revisits the gender agenda with new material on rape, consent and how the discussion has moved on.

A modern feminist classic

With clearsightedness and wry humour, this self-described 'gobby woman' proves public speech is no longer the preserve of maleness. More power to her.

... exposes the roots of today's expectations of how a woman should behave ... time for a change, she argues - and now!

This book is a treasure, both as a fascinating read in itself and as a fine work of reference to correct our lazy misconceptions about an ancient world that still has much to instruct us today

An urgent feminist cri de coeur, spot-on in its utterly reasonable plea that a woman 'who dares to open her mouth in public' actually be given a hearing.

Brilliant

Enlightening ... explains how misogyny works and why it is so resilient

A sparkling and forceful manifesto

Clear, rich, subversive and witty

An irresistible call for women to speak up, act and redefine their power

Praise for Mary Beard: 'She's pulled off that rare trick of becoming a don with a high media profile who hasn't sold out, who is absolutely respected by the academy for her scholarship ... what she says is always powerful and interesting

An irrepressible enthusiast with a refreshing disregard for convention

With such a champion as Beard to debunk and popularise, the future of the study of classics is assured

Dynamically, wittily and authoritatively brings the ancient world to life

Praise for SPQR: Fast-moving, exciting, psychologically acute, warmly sceptical - Bryan Appleyard

Vastly engaging ... a tremendously enjoyable and scholarly read

Sustaining the energy that such a topic demands for more than 600 pages, while providing a coherent answer to the question of why Rome expanded so spectacularly, is hugely ambitious. Beard succeeds triumphantly ... full of insights and delights ... SPQR is consistently enlivened by Beard's eye for detail and her excellent sense of humour.

Masterful ... This is exemplary popular history, engaging but never dumbed down, providing both the grand sweep and the intimate details that bring the distant past vividly to life

Ground-breaking ... invigorating ... revolutionary ... a whole new approach to ancient history

Selected as one of the 100 best books of the 21st century: An instant feminist classic

Mary Beard is a professor of classics at Newnham College, Cambridge, and the Classics editor of the TLS. She has world-wide academic acclaim, and is a fellow of the British Academy and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Her previous books include Civilisations: How We look / The Eye of Faith, the international bestseller SPQR, and the bestselling, Wolfson Prize-winning Pompeii, and also 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. All these books are published by Profile.