A conversation starter about how we converse; Miller chronicles the history of dialogue - from its ancient beginnings to its recent decline.(FEATURES)(BOOKS)(Book Review)

From: The Christian Science Monitor | Date: March 21, 2006 | Copyright information

Byline: Tom D'Eveyln

Conversation: A History of a Declining Art, is part of a tradition stretching back to the late Roman Republic.

As the book's author, Stephen Miller, says, "Cicero was the first writer to make a case that liberty might lead to violent civil discord if the educated classes lacked the art of conversation."

For Cicero, the conversation of Socrates was exemplary - gentle but witty. And yet Socrates was executed by his fellow Athenians. As for Cicero, a few years after he published his work on conversation, he was murdered by government troops.

For ...

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