The Great Tradition

Classic Readings on What It Means to Be an Educated Human Being

By Richard Gamble (Editor)
(Intercollegiate Studies Institute, Paperback, 9781935191568, 500pp.)

Publication Date: February 2009

Categories: Essays, History

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"The Great Tradition provides a treasury of insights into Western education that no school leadership can afford to ignore. Something will speak to everybody with a mildly curious mind: headmasters who want help with the curriculum (Quintilian), parents who want to raise wise and virtuous children (Chrysostom), lovers of the classics (Philip Melanchthon), students setting life goals (Basil The Great), teachers who want help focusing their efforts (Aristotle), the historically curious (from Plato to C. S. Lewis), and board members setting priorities (Paul Elmer More). Every now and then someone does the world the invaluable favor of reminding us how we got here and what we’ve left behind. Richard M. Gamble has done so for a new generation."
— Andrew Kern, President, CiRCE Institute, and coauthor of Classical Education, The Movement Sweeping America


"An impressive new volume of selected readings which trace the thread of education as it is woven into our cultural fabric, spanning more than 2,000 years, from the ancient Greeks to contemporary writers....Gamble has delivered a rich resource for families, teachers and schools —yes, even public schools, if they would use it. Home educators are certain to find it an invaluable addition to their library."
— Randall Murphree, American Family Association


"Masterfully edited by Gamble, [this] is a unique anthology best described in the term given by Mortimer Adler years ago--conversation… 'Anticipating the objections of critics who allege that the classical and Christian traditions are not useful in the modern world, Gamble declares, The Great Tradition, in contrast, anchored in the classical and Christian humanism of liberal education, has taken the broader view that what is useful is that which helps men and women to flourish in nonmaterial ways as well--in other words, that which helps them to be happy…' If there is any hope for an educational Renaissance, especially within the liberal arts, it will have to occur with a sense of the authentic and primarily formative education exemplified by the readings in this book."
— Journal of the Faith and the Academy