Richard Gamble

Out of the handful of 'Western Readers' I've used as a resource, "The Great Tradition" might be the best. Gamble has painstakingly arranged selections from Xenophon, Plato, Aristotle, Seneca, Cicero, Basil, Augustine, Hugh of St Victor, Bonaventure, Thomas Aquinas, Martin Luther, John Calvin, Erasmus, Edmund Burke, John Henry Newman, Thomas Arnold, Albert Jay Nock, Dorothy Sayers, C. S. Lewis, and Eric Voegelin (to name a few) in an appealing format. As Gamble notes in the Introduction, show more "this collection from what has been called 'The Great Tradition' is intended to supply an arsenal of the liberal arts for those who would wage war—covertly or openly—on the side of an education rooted in the classical and Christian heritage." show less

An exceptional anthology of excerpts from the classics from Ancient Greece until the present day. Included are familiar selections from such greats as Plato, Augustine, Milton, and Burke. But there are many selections that are worthy entries from authors whose names do not immediately come to one's mind, even if you are well-read. That is what gives this collection a unique place amongst anthologies of great writers and is why I would recommend it to all who would like to extend and deepen show more their awareness of what it means to be an educated human being. show less