When Albrecht (Heidelberg U.) set out to collect and translate essays he had written over the past four decades, he discovered that to make the collection accessible to younger students and an international readership, he had to rewrite almost all the material. So much for short cuts. He analyzes the style of first-century BC Roman orator, concentrating on what is strategically significant rather than trying to cover all genres and a broad range of stylistic elements. Though Cicero is amply covered in grammar books, he says, authorities have petrified his style into a periodic syntax, and led students to believe that he was limited to that single conventional style. Annotation (c) Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)