A riveting, lively and brilliantly researched biography of Socrates by the author of the acclaimed bestseller Helen of Troy.We think the way we do because Socrates thought the way he did. His aphorism 'The unexamined life is not worth living' may have originated twenty-five centuries ago, but it is a founding principle of modern life. Socrates lived and contributed to a city that nurtured key ingredients of contemporary civilisation -- democracy, liberty, science, drama, rational thought -- yet, as he wrote nothing in his lifetime, he himself is an enigmatic figure.The Hemlock Cup gives Socrates the biography he deserves, setting him in the context of the Eastern Mediterranean that was his home, and dealing with him as he himself dealt with the world. Socrates was a soldier, a lover, a man of the people. He philosophised neither in grand educational establishments nor the courts of kings but in the squares and public arenas of Golden Age Athens. He lived through an age of extraordinary materialism, in which a democratic culture turned to the glorification of its own city; when war was declared under the banner of democracy; and when tolerance turned into intimidation on streets once populated by the likes of Euripides, Sophocles and Pericles. For seventy years he was a vigorous citizen of one of the greatest capitals on earth, but then his beloved Athens turned on him, condemning him to death by poison. Socrates' pursuit of personal liberty is a vibrant story that Athens did not want us to hear, but which must be told.Bettany Hughes has painstakingly pieced together Socrates' life, following in his footsteps across Greece and Asia Minor, and examining the new archaeological discoveries that shed light on his world. In The Hemlock Cup she reveals the human heart of the man, and relates a story that is as relevant now as it has ever been.

'from What Is It They Flee?' He Took A While To Reply. By The Time He Spoke The Men Had Gone Inside. He Said Quietly, 'they Killed The King.' 1660, General Edward Whalley And Colonel William Goffe, Father- And Son-in-law, Cross The Atlantic. They Are On The Run And Wanted For The Murder Of Charles I. Under The Provisions Of The Act Of Oblivion, They Have Been Found Guilty In Absentia Of High Treason. In London, Richard Nayler, Secretary Of The Regicide Committee Of The Privy Council, Is Tasked With Tracking Down The Fugitives. He'll Stop At Nothing Until The Two Men Are Brought To Justice. A Reward Of £100 Hangs Over Their Heads - For Their Capture, Dead Or Alive. Act Of Oblivion Is An Epic Journey Across Continents, And A Chase Like No Other. It Is The Thrilling New Novel By Robert Harris.

THE LATEST NOVEL FROM ROBERT HARRIS'A thoroughly absorbing, page-turning narrative in which the author pulls us ever deeper into the imaginative world he has created.' NICK RENNISON, SUNDAY TIMES'Harris is rightly praised as the master of the intelligent thriller. Genuinely thrilling, wonderfully conceived and entirely without preaching, it probes the nature of history, of collective memory and forgetting, and exposes the fragility of modern civilisation.' HARRY SIDEBOTTOM, DAILY TELEGRAPHAll civilisations think they are invulnerable. History warns us none is.1468. A young priest, Christopher Fairfax, arrives in a remote Exmoor village to conduct the funeral of his predecessor. The land around is strewn with ancient artefacts coins, fragments of glass, human bones which the old parson used to collect. Did his obsession with the past lead to his deathAs Fairfax is drawn more deeply into the isolated community, everything he believes about himself, his faith and the history of his world is tested to destruction.'[Harris] takes us on a thrilling ride while serving up serious food for thought . . . I doubt there is a living writer who is better at simultaneously making readers adrenaline pump while their brains whirr.' CHARLOTTE HEATHCOTE, SUNDAY EXPRESS'A truly surprising future-history thriller. Fabulous, really.' DAVID SEXTON, EVENING STANDARD