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Peter Brown's Top Book Recommendations

Want to know what books Peter Brown recommends? We've researched interviews, social media posts, podcasts, and articles to build a comprehensive list of Peter Brown's favorite book recommendations of all time. At Shortform, we know books. Our book guides are the best in the world. Learn why.

Philosophy as a Way of Life: Spiritual Exercises from Socrates to Foucault book cover1

Philosophy as a Way of Life: Spiritual Exercises from Socrates to Foucault

Pierre Hadot, Arnold Davidson

4.4
This book presents a history of spiritual exercises from Socrates to early Christianity, an account of their decline in modern philosophy, and a discussion of the different conceptions of philosophy that have accompanied the trajectory and fate of the theory and practice of spiritual exercises. Hadot's book demonstrates the extent to which philosophy has been, and still is, above all else a way of
Jules Evans portraitPeter Brown portrait Recommended by Jules Evans and Peter Brown.
Peter Brown portrait
Peter Brown

One of Peter Brown’s first books was a biography of Augustine in 1967. He then wrote a book about late antiquity in the early 1970s. He’s an example of someone who wears his learning very lightly. [source]

Jules Evans portrait
Jules Evans

Pierre Hadot is not that well known, but the people who are aware of him really love and value his work. He was a French academic, a specialist in Neo-Platonist mysticism. One day he went into his local bakery, looked around at the people queuing for bread and thought: Neo-Platonist mysticism means nothing to these people and is not much use to them. So he started to become interested in the more practical philosophy of the Stoics and the Epicureans, and this idea of ancient philosophy not as abstract theory but as a way of life, something that ordinary people can practise every day to live better and happier lives. [source]

2

The Social & Economic History of the Roman Empire

Michael Rostovtzeff

4.4
Peter Brown portrait Recommended by Peter Brown.
3

A History of Education in Antiquity

Henri-Irénée Marrou

3.9
H. I. Marrou’s A History of Education in Antiquity has been an invaluable contribution in the fields of classical studies and history ever since its original publication in French in 1948. French historian H. I. Marrou traces the roots of classical education, from the warrior cultures of Homer, to the increasing importance of rhetoric and philosophy, to the adaptation of Hellenistic ideals within
Peter Brown portrait Recommended by Peter Brown.
4

Mosaics as History: The Near East from Late Antiquity to Islam

G. W. Bowersock

3.7
Over the past century, exploration and serendipity have uncovered mosaic after mosaic in the Near East--maps, historical images, mythical figures, and religious scenes that constitute an immense treasure of new testimony from antiquity. The stories these mosaics tell unfold in this brief, richly informed book by a preeminent scholar of the classical world.

G. W. Bowersock considers these mosaics a
Peter Brown portrait Recommended by Peter Brown.
5

Pauvreté économique Et Pauvreté Sociale à Byzance, 4e 7e Siècles

PATLAGEAN E

4.5
Peter Brown portrait Recommended by Peter Brown.