The Last of the Wine
A Virago Modern Classic
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A VIVID, SWEEPING SAGA OF QUEER LOVE AND POLITICS IN ANCIENT GREECE, FROM THE QUEEN OF HISTORICAL FICTION
'Renault's eye for intimacy is amazing' DOUGLAS STUART
'Arresting and beautiful and moving . . . decades ahead of its time' LONDON REVIEW OF BOOKS
Your love made me. Do not take it away; for without love I am a temple forsaken by its god
Athens and Sparta, the mighty city states of ancient Greece, have been locked together in conflict for a quarter of a century. Alexias the Athenian comes of age in these turbulent times, as the golden age fractures into uncertainty and chaos. No longer protected by his family's noble status, he is drawn to the controversial teachings of Socrates - and to another of the philosopher's young followers, Lysis.
The two young men form a passionate bond, becoming both friends and lovers. Together, they learn to hunt and to love, to debate and to wrestle, to grapple with family and loyalty. But all the while, fate leads Alexias to the moment he must stand alongside Lysis in the last great battle of the Peloponnesian War.
'A remarkable novel, vivid and moving . . . a glowing work of art' NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW
'Of her Greek fictions, The Last of the Wine [is] her most moving' EMMA DONOGHUE
'Renault's eye for intimacy is amazing' DOUGLAS STUART
'Arresting and beautiful and moving . . . decades ahead of its time' LONDON REVIEW OF BOOKS
Your love made me. Do not take it away; for without love I am a temple forsaken by its god
Athens and Sparta, the mighty city states of ancient Greece, have been locked together in conflict for a quarter of a century. Alexias the Athenian comes of age in these turbulent times, as the golden age fractures into uncertainty and chaos. No longer protected by his family's noble status, he is drawn to the controversial teachings of Socrates - and to another of the philosopher's young followers, Lysis.
The two young men form a passionate bond, becoming both friends and lovers. Together, they learn to hunt and to love, to debate and to wrestle, to grapple with family and loyalty. But all the while, fate leads Alexias to the moment he must stand alongside Lysis in the last great battle of the Peloponnesian War.
'A remarkable novel, vivid and moving . . . a glowing work of art' NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW
'Of her Greek fictions, The Last of the Wine [is] her most moving' EMMA DONOGHUE
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- Published: Jan 15 2026
- 196 x 126mm
- ISBN: 9780349018560
Press Reviews
- Sunday Times
The most vivid and convincing reconstruction of ancient Greek life that I have ever seen.
- Emma Donoghue
I never learned Latin or Greek; I wasn't raised on the classics, even in translation. So all my sense of the ancient world - its values, its style, the scent of its wars and passions - comes from Mary Renault. Her Theseus novels are perhaps the most exciting of her Greek fictions, and The Last of the Wine the most moving. I turned to writing historical fiction because of something I learned from Renault: that it lets you shake off the mental shackles of your own era, all the categories and labels, and write freely about what really matters to you.
- New York Times Book Review
Not since Robert Graves' I, Claudius has there been such an exciting, living image of the ancient world on this grand scale. It is a glowing work of art
Hilary Mantel
Mary Renault is a shining light to both historical novelists and their readers. She does not pretend the past is like the present, or that the people of ancient Greece were just like us. She shows us their strangeness; discerning, sure-footed, challenging our values, piquing our curiosity, she leads us through an alien landscape that moves and delights us