About Aleksander Krawczuk

"I shall write the best books, the most important books.
My books shall be at once about the antique and the here and now,
interesting to scholars and accessible to the common man. And I shall write them
with the simplicity and clarity of Bertrand Russell."

Aleksander Krawczuk, aspiring scholar, 1946

Aleksander Krawczuk (1922-2023) was a great classical scholar, a professor at the Jagiellonian University, Poland's minister of culture, and a publishing phenomenon: he wrote books about classical antiquity that became mainstream best-sellers. Though Russian Cold War policies made it impossible to publish these books in the West at the time, they went on to international success across Eastern Europe and their author became a TV celebrity.

What made his books best-sellers?

In part, it was their style. Krawczuk's prose is readable, almost conversational, and yet it contains passages of great literary beauty.

In part, it was their format. His books were never the "one-damn-thing-after-another" history writing. Instead, they ranged from kaleidoscopic panoramas of Rome at the time of the last Olympiad to a whimsical reimagining of the private philosophy of Apuleius, a Roman best-selling author.

But most importantly, it was the way they highlighted the parallels between the past and the present, using antiquity as a mirror for modernity, giving the reader a kind of timeless, universal perspective on our own times and selves.

These books are a rare and timeless delight and I recommend you try one of our special offers (there is always some eBook available for just $0.99) to see for yourself.

aleksander Krawczuk (1922-2023)