Rescuing Socrates by Roosevelt Montás is, in many respects, both a memoir and a manifesto. Montás, former director of Columbia University’s Core Curriculum, sets out to defend the enduring value of a liberal education grounded in the so-called Great Books tradition. What makes this book particularly compelling is that it is not a nostalgic paean to a lost golden age, but a living, breathing argument shaped by the author’s own journey, from a poor immigrant from the Dominican Republic to a scholar and teacher whose life was transformed by direct engagement with thinkers from Plato to Gandhi.
The timing of this defence could hardly be more apt. Across schools and universities, especially in the humanities, the relevance of classical texts is often questioned. Are they relics of an exclusionary tradition, or can they still speak meaningfully to a diverse, global student body? Montás answers with a resounding yes, but with important qualifications. His case is neither abstract nor dogmatic; rather, it unfolds through four essays, each centred on a thinker whose work profoundly shaped his intellectual and personal life: Plato, Augustine, Freud, and Gandhi.
These four chapters do more than simply recount Montás’ encounters with these authors; they become, in effect, case studies of how reading can change a life. In the opening essay, Montás recalls his first encounter with Plato’s Apology as an undergraduate: ‘Socrates spoke to me as if across centuries and continents, recognising something in me that I had not yet seen in myself’. Such moments recur throughout the book, lending it a vivid immediacy. With Augustine’s Confessions, Montás reflects on the nature of self-knowledge and spiritual longing, finding in Augustine’s search for truth a mirror of his own. Freud’s probing of the unconscious becomes a tool for self-understanding, and Gandhi’s political and moral philosophy offers a vision of principled action in the world.
The book’s structure, part autobiography, part defence of the humanities, is one of its chief strengths. By interweaving his personal narrative with close readings of these authors, Montás avoids the aridness that can sometimes afflict curricular debates. His story gives flesh and blood to the abstract argument that great works of thought and literature are not the preserve of any single culture, class, or time period. This personal dimension is particularly resonant for educators: it reminds us that, when we teach the classics, we are not transmitting inert knowledge, but potentially sparking life-changing intellectual awakenings.
Montás writes with clarity and conviction, but also with warmth that makes the book accessible well beyond the academy. His defence of the Great Books is unapologetic, yet inclusive. He freely acknowledges that the canon has been shaped by historical exclusions, but insists that this should prompt engagement, not abandonment. ‘To discard the canon because it has been shaped by inequality’, he writes, ‘is to surrender the most powerful resources we have for confronting that inequality’. This is a position likely to resonate with classics teachers navigating curriculum reforms and cultural debates.
One of the most valuable contributions of Rescuing Socrates is its implicit model of pedagogy. Montás shows that the point of reading Plato or Augustine is not to accumulate facts about the ancient world, but to enter into a living conversation that crosses boundaries of time, culture, and circumstance. For teachers of the classics, this is a reminder that our task is not merely to convey content, but to foster interpretive skills, critical self-reflection, and intellectual courage. Montás himself is a model of this approach: his engagement with Gandhi, for example, is not limited to historical analysis, but extends to questions of moral responsibility in the present day.
While the book is largely persuasive, there are moments when the reader might wish for more sustained engagement with alternative viewpoints. Montás acknowledges criticisms of the canon, but the brevity of these discussions occasionally leaves them underdeveloped. Similarly, his choice of authors, all male and, with the exception of Gandhi, rooted in the Western intellectual tradition, may prompt some readers to ask how the transformative power he describes might be extended through a more globally diverse set of texts. Yet these limitations are also opportunities: they invite further exploration, perhaps even inspiring teachers to apply Montás’ model to a wider range of authors.
In the context of classics teaching, Rescuing Socrates offers more than a defence of the canon; it provides a vision for how ancient and foundational texts can be taught in a way that speaks directly to students’ own lives. Montás’ belief that education should be personally transformative rather than merely vocational aligns closely with the ethos of liberal education as practised in the best traditions of classics departments. His success in reaching students from diverse backgrounds suggests that the classics, far from being an elite preserve, can and should be part of a genuinely democratic education.
For teachers, one of the most encouraging aspects of this book is its underlying optimism. In an era when the humanities are often in retreat, Montás refuses to concede defeat. His own life stands as evidence that engagement with the great works can open doors that no amount of professional training alone can unlock. The final chapters, particularly his reflections on teaching in Columbia’s Core Curriculum, are rich with practical and moral insights for anyone committed to the intellectual development of their students.
Rescuing Socrates is, ultimately, a call to action. It challenges educators to consider not just what we teach, but why and to whom. It invites us to see our classrooms as spaces where ancient dialogues can illuminate modern dilemmas, and where the questions posed by Socrates, Augustine, Freud, and Gandhi are not historical curiosities but urgent, personal challenges.
In recommending this book to the readership of the Journal of Classics Teaching, I do so with genuine enthusiasm. Whether you are a veteran teacher seeking to reinvigorate your practice, a student contemplating the purpose of your studies, or an academic reflecting on the future of the humanities, Rescuing Socrates will both inspire and provoke. It is a reminder that the classics are not a museum exhibit to be dusted off for special occasions, but part of the ongoing conversation about what it means to live a good life. Montás has shown, through scholarship and personal testimony, that this conversation is not bound by time, place, or culture, and that it is as urgent now as it was in Socrates’ Athens.
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