Machiavelli's masterpiece of manipulation and political intrigue was written more than 500 years ago, but its principles still live. Politician Gary Hart and statesman Henry Kissinger, among others, discuss how The Prince has influenced world leaders and the course of history from medieval times through the present.
Discovery School - Great Books - Freud's Interpretation of Dreams
Using a unique series of dream sequence reenactments based on Freud's revolutionary book, experts and artists escort viewers down the road of the unconscious and into a deeper understanding of the inner life of humans.
Discovery School - Great Books - Great Expectations
Like Dickens' other stories, Great Expectations is published as a serial and is an instant hit. Authors, actors, and scholars discuss the many interpretations of Miss Havisham and Pip's desire to become a gentleman. A tour of real-life settings Dickens used in his novels and examples of how Pip's obsession with Estella and changed relationship with Joe reflect the author's life and the British class system at the time.
How to Do Things with Books in Victorian Britain asks how our culture came to frown on using books for any purpose other than reading. When did the coffee-table book become an object of scorn? Why did law courts forbid witnesses to kiss the Bible? What made Victorian cartoonists mock commuters who hid behind the newspaper, ladies who matched their books' binding to their dress, and servants who reduced newspapers to fish 'n' chips wrap?
This DVD offers an introduction to one of the Western world's first action-adventure stories. Take a look at the Greek myths and The Odyssey's lessons of morality. Scholars and critics discuss the impact of The Odyssey on Western literature, as well as the now-familiar heroic traits first seen in Homer's characters.
