Apuleius: The Golden Ass, trans. E.J. Kenney (Penguin, £6.99 in UK)

Up to now, the choice of Apuleius in English has been between the Elizabethan version by William Adlington and the curiously flat, disappointing modern one by Robert Graves. Kenney's version steers a middle course between archaism and ultra-modernity, though something of the charm and occasional oddity of the original is lost - Apuleius, an African, wrote in a fanciful, rather exotic style which is probably explained by the fact that Latin was not his native language. The Golden Ass is a unique and fascinating story, enormously influential in European literature and a model for Cervantes and many others. The interesting preface makes the claim that the story of Cupid and Psyche is not a mere charming interlude as most people have thought, but an allegory which contains the core of the entire book.