After six years of work, Badiou presents his bold new translation of Plato's 'Republic', where philosophical and literary talent come together in a congenial way. In Badiou's 'State', the language and thinking of the actors are radically modern, revealing not only a new perspective on a millennia-old work but also sharpening our view of the pressing questions of our present. Badiou alternates between literal translation and free improvisation, dividing the text into sixteen chapters instead of ten, modernizing its imagery, expanding its historical context, and infusing it with a philosophical vocabulary that is our own: The idea of the Good becomes the idea of the True, the soul becomes the subject, God becomes the great Other, and Adeimantos becomes Amantha, the first woman in Plato's circle of men. Those who cry betrayal of the original are undoubtedly right, yet they overlook where.