This two-volume study, first published in 1876, aimed to re-establish the centrality of pre-Demosthenes orators to the history of Greek literature, and to situate their work in its political and social contexts. Volume 1 focuses on the lives and works of the orators Antiphon, Andokides and Lysias.

Jebb examines the Attic orators' lives, works, and historical contexts and argues for their centrality to Greek literature.