The Devil Knows Latin

the long version

For generations scholars treated the United States as a unique country whose cultural history could be studied in isolation from world events and traditions. More recently, writers have shown an increased awareness that American society, far from developing in a protected, ahistorical realm, can be understood only as part of a wider civilization. Now E. Christian Kopff offers an even sharper perspective by viewing America squarely within the classical traditions of ancient Greece and Rome. For, as Kopff demonstrates convincingly, a truly informed, nuanced view of American culture must rest upon an appreciation of our debt to the classical past.