---
product_id: 39377350
title: "The Republic of Plato"
price: "€ 40.51"
currency: EUR
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 8
url: https://www.desertcart.com.cy/products/39377350-the-republic-of-plato
store_origin: CY
region: Cyprus
---

# The Republic of Plato

**Price:** € 40.51
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## Description

The Republic of Plato [Bloom, Allan, Kirsch, Adam] on desertcart.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. The Republic of Plato

Review: Best Translation of the Republic - Very readable translation of The Republic. I had borrowed a copy from a colleague several years ago, and kept it for years. Finally decided to get my own copy.
Review: Hard but rewarding - In Adam Kirch’s introduction to Allan Bloom’s translation of “The Republic,” he writes “Plato intended his works essentially for the industrious and intelligent few, a natural aristocracy determined neither by birth nor wealth, and his translation attempts to do nothing which would contradict that would contradict that intention.” Further on in his introduction, he relates stories of students in Mr. Bloom’s university classes where he taught Plato. He often assigned essays based upon his translation and, to his delight, would receive responses from his students that he thought quite excellent. Notwithstanding the intended difficulty of the work- deliberately unmitigated by Mr. Bloom- a surprising number of these youngsters had the right stuff be guardians in Plato’s idealized city. Could Mr. Bloom justly claim success in teaching such a hard book? Hardly. It turns out, Kirch informs us, the students merely repackaged the conclusions in Mr. Bloom’s own masterful interpretive essay he placed at the conclusion of his translation. And who could blame them? Students will always be students; and I, like many, can commiserate with them if they felt overmatched by the task of understanding “The Republic.” For I found nit to be every bit as difficult and Plato and Mr. Bloom intended. To keep with the spirit of Plato and Mr. Bloom, I won’t provide my own cliff notes on Plato’s masterpiece. Merely, I will write that Plato gives his most famous character, Socrates, a chance to defend philosophy against a hostile crowd, this time without a draught of hemlock awaiting him at the end of his efforts. What I will say regards Mr. Bloom’s translation. “The Republic,” he says, was meant to be read as a conversation- dialectic. Previous translations had been too liberal in reorganizing Plato’s style to fit their own particular milieu’s tastes. They had too readily altered the words in translations to convey senses more suitable to their own time and place. Mr. Bloom sought to correct their errors. In so doing, he rendered a translation that can be difficult to follow and, speaking for myself, required rereading. But if Mr. Bloom was right (and, for what it’s worth, I incline to his view) then the reader should be pleased to be reading something closer to what Plato actually wrote. I ended “The Republic” admiring Allan Bloom more than Plato. In reading this book, especially his interpretive essay, I discovered the answer to the question “what is a scholar?” Mr. Bloom’s love for his craft and zealous attention to detail are obvious; and his renowned skill as a writer made obvious in his concluding essay. My only recommendation to the reader is to form your own judgement of “The Republic” before reading Mr. Bloom’s, and having done so don’t be at all surprised if your judgement is left behind in the dark of Plato’s cave as you turn towards the light of his.

## Technical Specifications

| Specification | Value |
|---------------|-------|
| Best Sellers Rank | #12,358 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #18 in Political Philosophy (Books) #35 in Ancient Greek & Roman Philosophy #49 in Philosophy of Ethics & Morality |
| Customer Reviews | 4.6 out of 5 stars 1,005 Reviews |

## Images

![The Republic of Plato - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81-YuQlY8hL.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Best Translation of the Republic
*by G***S on February 8, 2025*

Very readable translation of The Republic. I had borrowed a copy from a colleague several years ago, and kept it for years. Finally decided to get my own copy.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Hard but rewarding
*by F***N on March 22, 2024*

In Adam Kirch’s introduction to Allan Bloom’s translation of “The Republic,” he writes “Plato intended his works essentially for the industrious and intelligent few, a natural aristocracy determined neither by birth nor wealth, and his translation attempts to do nothing which would contradict that would contradict that intention.” Further on in his introduction, he relates stories of students in Mr. Bloom’s university classes where he taught Plato. He often assigned essays based upon his translation and, to his delight, would receive responses from his students that he thought quite excellent. Notwithstanding the intended difficulty of the work- deliberately unmitigated by Mr. Bloom- a surprising number of these youngsters had the right stuff be guardians in Plato’s idealized city. Could Mr. Bloom justly claim success in teaching such a hard book? Hardly. It turns out, Kirch informs us, the students merely repackaged the conclusions in Mr. Bloom’s own masterful interpretive essay he placed at the conclusion of his translation. And who could blame them? Students will always be students; and I, like many, can commiserate with them if they felt overmatched by the task of understanding “The Republic.” For I found nit to be every bit as difficult and Plato and Mr. Bloom intended. To keep with the spirit of Plato and Mr. Bloom, I won’t provide my own cliff notes on Plato’s masterpiece. Merely, I will write that Plato gives his most famous character, Socrates, a chance to defend philosophy against a hostile crowd, this time without a draught of hemlock awaiting him at the end of his efforts. What I will say regards Mr. Bloom’s translation. “The Republic,” he says, was meant to be read as a conversation- dialectic. Previous translations had been too liberal in reorganizing Plato’s style to fit their own particular milieu’s tastes. They had too readily altered the words in translations to convey senses more suitable to their own time and place. Mr. Bloom sought to correct their errors. In so doing, he rendered a translation that can be difficult to follow and, speaking for myself, required rereading. But if Mr. Bloom was right (and, for what it’s worth, I incline to his view) then the reader should be pleased to be reading something closer to what Plato actually wrote. I ended “The Republic” admiring Allan Bloom more than Plato. In reading this book, especially his interpretive essay, I discovered the answer to the question “what is a scholar?” Mr. Bloom’s love for his craft and zealous attention to detail are obvious; and his renowned skill as a writer made obvious in his concluding essay. My only recommendation to the reader is to form your own judgement of “The Republic” before reading Mr. Bloom’s, and having done so don’t be at all surprised if your judgement is left behind in the dark of Plato’s cave as you turn towards the light of his.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Best book written on The Republic
*by P***A on July 23, 2025*

I have read only a few pages but I’m finding it very interesting so I’m sure it will be worth reading. It would even be a better book if the print is a bit larger.

## Frequently Bought Together

- The Republic of Plato
- Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics
- Four Texts on Socrates: Plato's "Euthyphro", "Apology of Socrates", and "Crito" and Aristophanes' "Clouds"

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*Product available on Desertcart Cyprus*
*Store origin: CY*
*Last updated: 2026-02-19*