Paul Cartledge is A.G. Leventis Professor of Greek Culture Emeritus at the University of Cambridge. He is an honorary citizen of modern Sparta and holds the Gold Cross of the Order of Honor awarded by the President of Greece. His previous books include The Cambridge Illustrated History of Ancient Greece (Cambridge, 1997, 2002), The Spartans (Random House, 2004), Alexander the Great (Random House, 2005), Thermopylae (Random House, 2007), Ancient Greece (OUP, 2009), and After Thermopylae: The Oath of Plataea and the End of the Graeco-Persian Wars (OUP, 2013).

"Cartledge reminds us that those we are led to believe played a major role in reviving democracy in the modern world, setting the standards the West has followed for the last 250 years, i.e. the Founding Founders of the American republic, were in fact vehement anti-democrats, fearing that Athenian direct democracy amounted to mob rule and devising a system to avoid such an unpalatable outcome." -- John Akritas, Hellenic Antidote

"Paul Cartledge's Democracy: A Life is a fascinating read, looking at the origins of the democratic ideal in ancient Greece and how it has fared historically." --Times Higher Education Supplement

"A compact but rich education in classics and democracy, from a leading expert who delights in his subject... No library should be without this wonderful book, in which Cartledge has abundantly shared his love and knowledge of ancient Greece with us."-Kirkus Reviews (starred)

"The huge value of Cartledge's book is the reminder that 2016 is merely a way-stop on a very long journey indeed."-Tom Holland, The Guardian

"Thanks to Cartledge, Athenian democracy feels more vital than it has done for decades. It is a belter of a book."-Peter Thonemann, Books of the Year 2016, Times Literary Supplement

"Paul Cartledge subtitles his new study Democracy (Oxford) A Life, and was right to do so.... The clarity and zest with which he pursues his Snark-like quarry, the breadth and variety of his reading, and his cheerful persistence against odds (matching that of his subject) combine to make this an unexpectedly enjoyable page-turner."-Peter Green, Books of the Year 2016, Times Literary Supplement