Product Description
A highly accessible popular history that chronicles miltary and political development in Athens, Sparta and other ancient Greek city-states, all revealed in magnificent detail. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Wonderful book
This is a wonderful book! I am reading it with my 9 year old son, and he loves it. It's a great introduction in the history of the Western Civilization. A very insightful, easy to read, all inclussive story( more than history)of humanity. Highly recommend!

Sadly disappointed
This is a wonderfully illustrated book loaded with color photographs and maps, but not a lot of substance when it comes to specific details of Ancient Greece. The author attempts to compress over two thousand years of Ancient Greek history into xii chapters. On the average each chapter is about twenty to twenty- four pages in length, and is sub divided into six to eight topics; just two pages each.
I would only recommend this book for anyone who is just beginning to study Ancient Greece, or a gift for your favorite middle schooler.
... Read more

Product Description
In this collection of sixteen literary and historical essays, Peter Green informs, entertains, and stimulates. He covers a wide range of subjects, from Greek attitudes toward death to the mysteries of the Delphic Oracle, from Tutankhamun and the gold of Egypt to sex in ancient literature, from the island of Lesbos (where he once lived) to the challenges of translating Ovid's wit and elegant eroticism into present-day English verse, from Victorian pederastic aesthetics to Marxism's losing battle with ancient history. This third volume of Green's essays (several previously unpublished) reveals throughout his serious concern that we are, in a very real sense, losing the legacy of antiquity through the corrosive methodologies of modern academic criticism. ... Read more

Product Description
Acclaimed for its penetration, balance, and insight, Modern Greece tells the story of Greece and its people, from the founding of Constantinople to the eclipse of socialism in the late twentieth century. C. M. Woodhouse is uniquely qualified to write the history of Greece, having served there in the Allied military and the British embassy during and after World War II before writing several books on Greece. In this classic work, which Woodhouse has updated five times to create a truly comprehensive history, the depth of his knowledge and understanding of the country and its citizens comes through clearly in every chapter, as he ranges from the ascendancy and eventual fall of the Byzantine Empire through the emergence for the first time of a unified Greek kingdom in the 1800s to the political turmoil of twentieth-century politics. This is a book for readers and travelers who wish to understand the history and culture behind the beauty that is eternal Greece.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

GREAT RESOURCE
This is THE BOOK for anyone wanting a very readable resource for research in modern Greek history. I used it extensively while writing my latest spy thriller, THE WINDS OF OCTOBER (2009). But be warned, it's written in British English, so you may find some of the spelling somewhat different from what Americans are used to.
James R. "Jim" Stephens
Also author of CAMERA SOLDIERS: The Philippine Odyssey (2007)

Serious pitfalls about the Greek tribes Arvanites mixed as Albanians
I'm afraid that there are serious pitfalls in this book. Mr. Woodhouse has insufficient knowledge about the history of Greece.
Theobvious traps in his book is about the Greek tribe Arvanites which are referred in his book as Albanians.
One must bear in mind that the greek populations were extended further than today's Greek borders.
Arvanites who came from the today's south Albania were not Albanians as is not the Greek minority that inhabits today the region of Nothern Epirus/South Albania.
Those kindsof falsifications usually appears in political texts, when Albania and Romania wanted to present an Albanian (Arvanites) respectively Romanian minority in Greece (Vlachs).

There are plenty of written sources about Maurokordatos and Markos Botsaris. It is well known that they were Greek Arvanites; however they were speaking a dialect which can be considered as Ancient Albanian. There are no serious researches about the Arvanitika language. In this dialect can be traced elements from the times of Homer.
One must also bear in mind that under the Ottoman occupation of Greece, the Greek language was prohibited, and the population were under extinction.KosmasAitolos (Cosmas of Aetolia ) a Greek monktortured to death exactly because he was arguing people to speak the Greek language (and raising their Greek consciousness) and not any other dialect.

Statements like "Koundouriotis was descended from the Albanian invaders of Greece in the 14th century" are completely inaccurate as the Arvanites came to inhabit large isolated areas after the instruction of the Byzantine emperor Manouil Kantakouzinos (13th century AD).

This book must be seriously revised.

Sufficient quality text, but lacks suffient maps
This history book did a fairly good job explaining the greek history.However, it only has 4 very poor maps in a 350+ page HISTORY text.In the text there were many references to cities, regions and countries related to significant events, but those places were not shown on any of the maps.I consider this a major flaw.Buy a different book unless you eastern Meditrainian geography very well.

C. M. Woodhouse on Greek Ambivalence Toward Democracy
Woodhouse's "Modern Greece: A Short History," has saved me from some unnecessary disappointments during my first visit to Greece this fall. I will be touring Greek cities and cruising the Aegean, so I read Woodhouse's book for prepatory background information. He described the disillusionment of the 19th Century European "panhellenes" (lovers of things Greek) who flooded into Greece to help fight the 1820-1827 wars of Greek liberation. These panhellenes saw themselves as defending the lineal descendants of the heros of Thermopylae and Marathon, but they quickly discovered modern Greeks exhibit no organic connection with the world of the ancient Greek city states. At least they have no more connection than contemporary Egyptians do the builders of the pyramids. Since I have been educated in the classics of Hellenic Greece, I too had been looking forward to experiencing the world which produced Pericles and Socrates. Woodhouse showed this to be nothing but a silly romantic projection on my part.

Greeks do think and act in the light of their long cultural tradition. But the tradition which informs them does not go back to the Hellenism of the 5th Century B.C.E. It goes back instead to the foundations of the Byzantine Empire at Constantinople in the 4th Century C.E. By the 7th Century this eastern branch of the Roman Empire was all that remained of classical civilization. It was defined by its distinct language (Greek) and by its distinct version of Christianity (Greek Orthodoxy).

Woodhouse explains that these social and religious features of the Byzantine Empire were not erased when the Turks conquered Constantinople in 1453. The Turks incorporated many of the forms of Byzantine rule into their own empire, and left the Orthodox Church and the Greek Language largely untouched among their conquered Greek subjects. (Woodhouse claims this Islamic attitude of toleration toward conquered "people of the book" was one reason for the rapid Muslim advance. Muslim rulers were frequently experienced as being less oppressive than their Christian predecessors.)

Like the Jews before them, the Greek people's common religion and language provided an enduring basis for their national identity. This became increasingly evident as the Ottoman Turks began to lose their grip on power late in the 18th and early 19th Centuries. But the Byzantine traditions of Greeks living under Turkish rule did not provide these Greeks with much purchase on democratic ideas or practices. The Byzantine Empire had often been severely totalitarian. Greek Orthodox Christianity demanded "orthodoxy" (right inner belief) as well as "orthopraxy" (right external behavior). Consensus about orthodoxy was difficult to sustain because of the complications surrounding the Doctrine of the Trinity. Christian Byzantium was riven with heresies, all having to do with plausible, but mutually contradictory, interpretations of that doctrine. Since each "heretical" faction had a belief community to back them up, these conflicts became political as well as theological. For example, the so-called "Nika" riots which occurred during Justinian's reign nearly destroyed his government. The rioters were members of opposing "Blue" and "Green" parties, and each party was defined by differing views of the "nature" of Christ. That was the sort of problem which led Byzantine rulers to insist on detailed conformity of beliefs. But this requirement made their rule oppressively totalitarian, especially when compared to the simpler theology and orthopraxy characteristic of Islam.

Woodhouse explains how this Byzantine tradition of doctrinaire factionalism informs Greek politics to this day. The Greek electorate acquiesced in the military dictatorship of 1967-1974, but then five years later it elected the party of the doctrinaire socialist Andreas Papandreou and sustained it in power for nearly eight years. The Greek electorate today appears to have repudiated both military dictatorship and militant socialism. But the polarities of totalitarianism and anarchism still exercise a strong influence on Greek political consciousness. According to Woodhouse, this tendency toward extremism in politics can be traced to the Greek experience of eleven centuries of Byzantine Empire and four centuries of Muslim occupation and rule.

I feel I have a far better appreciation of the cultural realities I will be encountering in Greece this fall, as a result of having read Woodhouse. For that I am grateful.

Fred Hallberg

Good book on the history of Greece
If you need a book on the history of Greece from 4th to 20th century, this is it. The author shows a very good knowledge of Greek history and shares his analysis of the events. At it's price, this is the best book on modern Greek history you can get. ... Read more

Product Description
A modern examination of the ancient world.

The incredible influence of Ancient Greek culture on everything from science to literature to politics continues to be relevant—and hotly debated. In The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Ancient Greece, you are invited to meet the Ancient Greeks and to understand their legacy by entering their world.

• Profiles the most important contributions of Greek culture, including mythology, philosophy, medicine, and the Olympic games
• Includes further reading and travel information to help in planning a personal Odyssey ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

a history teacher's review
The problem is that this book is trying to be two things at once - a resource book to be used as a quick reference (When was Alexander the Great born? What did the Epicureans believe?) or is it a basic history of the Ancient Greeks? Other books in the series that I have reviewed, such as The Complete Idiot's Guide to World Religions, 3rd Edition were clearly meant to be a quick reference guide.

So, as a history, this is sort of a frustrating read. The story of the Ancient Greeks is told in fits and starts. As a quick reference, it is good. The facts are solid and told in an understandable, interesting manner. I wasn't using it as a quick reference, rather I was reviewing the topic so as to be better prepared for the next time I teach ancient history. You can never tell what interesting tidbits you can pick up to spice up your presentations - even from the most basic of sources. For example, I learned that King Pyrrhus - the king that inspired the term "pyrrhic victory" was killed by a woman that threw a pot out of her window during a street battle (although further research shows that some claim he was only stunned by a roofing tile and this allowed him to be killed by a soldier. Either way, it's a good story).

So, as a narrative history - this is a 3 star book. As a reference, it is a 5 star book. So, split the difference and call it 4 stars.

Great book!
Wonderfully informative, well laid out. This would be a better and more useful book if there were maps included. There are only a few very small maps interspersed throughout the text.

A good solid Book about the Hellenes
The Greeks have been called the overachievers of history. This book clearly shows you why and why even today their impact on the world continues. A good solid effort!

Excellent for Beginners!
Nelson and Nelson, Ancient Greece 2004

Greek thought has always been at the forefront of Western learning.This book traces the development of Greek civilization from the Bronze Age to the downfall of Constantinople in 1453. Ancient Greece is written in a simple and lucid style.

Some major scholarly debates are simplified and have become highly readable for a lay leader within this work.One prime example Nelson and Nelson present is the current scholarly debate surrounding the collapse of Mycenaean civilization.In the work this debate is effectively synthesized and presented in an absolutely fascinating manner to a reader of any background, whom, I believe, will find that a civilization that collapsed and vanished from the historical record for 400 years before reappearing makes fascinating history and certainly a good read.

I bought this book to review and hopefully recommend to several of my not-so-Greek-savvy friends whom I will be traveling to Greece with in the not so distant future. I am sure they will enjoy it.

Overall, this book is an excellent introduction to a fascinating subject.I highly recommend it.
www.jeffdemers.com ... Read more

Product Description
A History of the Archaic Greek World offers a theme-based approach to the development of the Greek world in the years 1200-479 BCE.

• A Thematic study of this crucial formative period of Greek history, from the same series as P.J. Rhodes' A History of the Classical Greek World.
• Takes a critical and analytical look at evidence about the history of the archaic Greek World.
• Involves the reader in the practice of history by questioning and reevaluating conventional beliefs.
• Casts new light on traditional themes such as the rise of the city-state, citizen militias, and the origins of egalitarianism.

Customer Reviews (2)

A history book for the grown-up mind
We all learnt history at school and the history of Ancient Greece is an integral part of the curriculum in Europe and perhaps in some other parts of the world too. You meet it in primary school and then at secondary school because you have to understand the roots of democracy and of European civilisation to make sense of our era. You might have a feeling that you already know enough. But do you? No. If you take this book into your hands and start reading it turns out that you do not know too much about either the archaic Greek world or, what is more, history: in Chapter 1 the key question "What is History?" pops up after the author shows you an obvious pitfall when someone tries to assemble the pieces from different literary sources ranging from Hesiod to Plutarch. I asked a few of my acquaintances but no one had a well-informed or well-thought-over answer, obviously, we do not spend too much thought on it and therefore are not prepared to answer this seemingly simple question. However, this is the fundamental question in history as your relationship to history depends on your answer and on the answer the historian who writes a book gives to it.

As it turns out, what a nine or fourteen years old student is usually taught under the title "History" is mostly a bunch of anecdotal stories from the pens of authors who lived centuries after the actual events. On the other hand, archeology is not that reliable source either, partly because not everything leaves material traces behind and, secondly, only a small fraction of those which do is uncovered or matched with the appropriate historical context.

This book is great in showing the reader how the data available to the historian is insufficient to support certainties in most aspects of archaic Greek life and events and sometimes the careful analysis suggests a different most probable interpretation from the widely accepted one. The further back we look into the murky waters of time, the more common it is to be left with probabilities and trends, and uncertainties and doubts, than with facts and truths. The author does more than teaching history, he helps you learn to think in the historian way.

Wonderul Insight Into A period Not Well Understood
For those interested in the development of the classic Greek age, well worth your time. We had the opportunity to tour part of the ancient Greek world with the author which only underscored the quality of his work in combining archaeology and history to provide better insight into what lead to the classical Greek period. ... Read more

Product Description
In this unique and comprehensive introduction to the region's three major civilizations, Egypt, Greece, and Rome draws a fascinating picture of the deep links between the cultures across the Mediterranean and explores the ways in which these civilizations continue to be influential to this day.Beginning with the emergence of the earliest Egyptian civilization around 3500 BC, noted scholar Charles Freeman follows the history of the Mediterranean over a span of four millennia to AD 600, beyond the fall of the Roman empire in the west to the emergence of the Byzantine empire in the east.Generously illustrated in both color and black and white, and drawing on the most up to date scholarship, Egypt, Greece and Rome is a superb introduction for anyone seeking a better understanding of the civilizations of the ancient Mediterranean and their legacy to the West. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

A Good 10000 Foot View
In a quest to fill gaps in my historical knowledge I downloaded this book into my Kindle. I am very glad I did.

It is not necessarily surprising what I didn't know; I think in general maturity brings a realization of how vast the world is. It is rather more surprising what I thought that I knew. As a product of the 1980s public school system it is as if I thought the three civilizations somehow existed in a vacuum. That is really what I take away from this book - the interraction of the peoples around the Mediterranean over a span of 1000 years.

When I purchased this book I wanted a concise history that was not too "bogged down" in the details. Of course you get your Alexander, Caesar, Hadrian, etc. But I think Freeman does a nice job of nailing the essentials of the time and then later filling in some of the content before moving on.

Some other things about the book:

- As you would expect the book is about a quarter Egypt, a quarter Greece, and the rest is Rome.

- Freeman has his theories about why each empire 'failed' but does not present it as absolute fact.

- I think Christianity was covered fairly and historically.

- You really get a sense of how ineffective the Roman Senate was. I would be interested to read other books on the subject regarding this. Charles Freeman really makes it seem that the Senate loss most of its power early in the empire and really only existed as "window dressing" at the end.

- Freeman does a good job explaining 'continuity' of the populace even after the fall of the empires. I have always wondered about this and he is one of the first I have read to really explain it.

- He likes to explain the philosophers and learned men of the time which I personally found a little boring. But in context it makes sense since their writings are the reason we know anything about these time periods.

This is not what I would consider a light read, there are moments where I really had to force myself through. But considering the amount of time in history covered and the subject matter I really think Charles Freeman did a good job.

Textbook
The book was exactly what I needed, it showed up very quickly and was extremely useful for my class.

Best overview on Western Civilization
Charles Freeman's book Egypt, Greece, and Rome: Civilizations of the Ancient Mediterranean is an outstanding book. It is by no means a book for experts who hope to learn something new. It is, however, a great book for beginning college students to read. Freeman makes these ancient worlds come to life and make sense. I bought a used copy after reading a quarter of the book borrowed from the library. It is now in my reference section for me to continue to refer to in the future. I strongly recommend this enjoyable book to anyone who has an interest in Egypt, Greece and Rome.

Good but lacking coherence
This book covers Ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome in three multi-chapter sections and covers the Ancient Near East, the Hellenistic world after Alexander, and Europian "barbarians" in single chapters. The main topics--Egypt, Greece, and Rome--are, I think, treated quite separately, so there is no great advantage besides convenience to grouping them in one book.

I believe that the Ancient Near East--particularly the Persians and Jews--should have been a primary focus, and probably Egypt should not have. The Persian Wars and the rise of Christianity had huge impacts on Rome and Greece, and much of Greek culture was derived from Eastern culture. Ancient Eqypt was a unique and remarkable civilization but it was relatively isolated, and certainly it is possible to understand Greece and Rome without understanding Egypt.

The basic flaw of this book is that the chapters aren't tied together and that it has no overarching vision. For example, a theme like the similarities between the Eastern, Egyptian, Greek, and Roman religions because of assimilation would have been very interesting and enlightening I think, but there is little of it.

The writing is a bit prosaic, though in general this book is written well. You can learn a lot from this book, but it is difficult to remember it all since it is too much a compendium of facts and too little a coherent story.

Superb history
This is a great book to get an integrated view of the ancient world. I looked at many different books before reading this one, having previously devoured a number of more specialized books about the ancient world over the years, but wanting something more in the way of an overall perspective and context. This book is great for that.

I was mainly interested in the sections covering pre-Classical Period Greece, from 1500 down to the Golden Age (about 500 BC), but the other areas of coverage are superb also. Freeman also has an especially nice touch and fluency with the Greek history, and I wasn't surprised to find a separate book on Greek history by him next to this one on the bookshelf. There were also several gaps in my historical knowledge that this book plugged. For example, his section on the Etruscans, which I only had very fragmentary and superficial knowledge of, was also excellent.

The book benefits from much recent scholarship, and the author points out in the introduction that one of the main differences between a modern book on ancient history and older ones is the degree to which ancient civilizations like Greece can be placed much more securely in the context of their times, showing them not as isolated cultural entities, but as arising from the interplay of much more cosmopolitan influences as they interacted with, and were influenced by, their contacts, peaceable or otherwise, with neighboring or competing cultures. This is another one of the great scholarly strengths of the book.

I also found the author's deft touch and writing style a big plus, and although by necessity this is not a short book, it rarely got tedious or boring. That is notable by itself in a work of this size and nature. Overall, it counts as the best overall book on the history of the ancient world, and one of the most consistently interesting history books, I've ever read. ... Read more

Product Description
This scarce antiquarian book is included in our special Legacy Reprint Series. In the interest of creating a more extensive selection of rare historical book reprints, we have chosen to reproduce this title even though it may possibly have occasional imperfections such as missing and blurred pages, missing text, poor pictures, markings, dark backgrounds and other reproduction issues beyond our control. Because this work is culturally important, we have made it available as a part of our commitment to protecting, preserving and promoting the world's literature. ... Read more

Product Description
This Elibron Classics book is a facsimile reprint of a 1902 edition by Macmillan and Co., Ltd., London. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

The Best History of Ancient Greece, Complete Through Alexander
This book was used in the early 80s as the textbook for my Hellenistic States I and II classes in college. It is not a textbook in the manner of having Q&A and other study related stuff embedded at the end of every chapter. It reads very well and is provided with maps and illustrations - in black and white. My instructor for this class who was quite exceptional, regarded Bury as the best possible single volume (here is split into two smaller volumes) history that encompasses such a large section of the Greek word. I agree with him.

The book starts from archeological finds from the Bronze Age and the early Minoan period which was based on the island of Crete. This first section is very archeological in detailing pottery and other finds - that's all they have. The Mycenaean period follows and its subsequent destruction by the sea raiders and other invasions of the Greek mainland. The relationships between Greece and the Lydian kingdom in Asia Minor with the Phoenicians and others are well told detailing both trade and political developments.

The growth and expansion of Athens, Sparta and other Greek states are also very well treated. The book is very good at describing the establishment of the democracy and legal system in Athens and a very different system in Sparta complete with its dual kings and the unique Ephors that are elected and have a power that includes being able to remove a Spartan king. The recent book by Donald Kagan on the subject of the Peloponnesian War does not cover these important details and hence a reader can get lost in his narrative, unless of course they have read Bury or have a basic understanding of the how the ancient Greeks lived.

As the prototype of our form of democracy the history of the Greece states remains important today as when the founding fathers of the United States used the lessons they learned from Greece and applied them to the formation of the American democracy.

Major areas covered in the book include the advance and later defeat of the Persians when they attempted to conquer Greece, the rise and fall of the Athenian Empire in the Peloponnesian War, the hegemony of Sparta and then of Thebes and then a very good section on the rise of Macedon under Philip and then the Alexander's conquest of the Persian empire. This covers a great period of history instilling a great amount of information without being a laborious exercise. The writing style is very good and the illustrations are also excellent. ... Read more

Product Description
What is a dream?
Dreams are universal, but their perceived significance and conceptual framework change over time. This book provides new perspectives on the history of dreams and dream interpretation in western culture and thought.
Dreams and History contains important new scholarship on Freud's Interpretation of Dreams (1900) and subsequent psychoanalytical approaches from distinguished historians, psychoanalysts, historians of science and anthropologists. This collection celebrates and evaluates Freud's landmark intellectual production, whilst placing it in historical context. A modern view of psychoanalysis, it also discusses the controversial idea of the role of the external world on the shaping of unconscious mental contents.
In highly accessible language it proceeds through a series of richly illustrated case studies, providing new source materials and debates about the causes, meanings and consequences of dreams, past and present: from Victorian anthropological exploration of ancient Greek dream sources to peasant interpretation of dream-life in communist Russia; from concepts of the dream in sixteenth-century England to visual images in nineteenth-century symbolist painting in France.
Dreams and History will fascinate those interested not only in psychoanalysis and history, but also arts, culture, humanities and literature. ... Read more

Product Description
Modern Greece: A History since 1821 is a chronological account of the political, economic, social, and cultural history of Greece, from the birth of the Greek state in 1821 to 2008 by two leading authorities.

• Pioneering and wide-ranging study of modern Greece, which incorporates the most recent Greek scholarship
• Sets the history of modern Greece within the context of a broad geo-political framework
• Includes detailed portraits of leading Greek politicians
• Provides in-depth considerations on the profound economic and social changes that have occurred as a result of Greece’s EU membership

Product Description
From the epic poems of Homer to the glittering art and architecture of Greece's Golden Age, to the influential Roman systems of law and leadership, the classical Greek world established the foundations of our culture as well as many of its most enduring achievements.
Now, in this vividly illustrated volume, readers can embrace the spirit of the classical world, from the eighth to the first centuries B.C., a period unparalleled in history for its brilliance in literature, philosophy, and the visual arts. This work also treats the Hellenization of the Middle East by the monarchies established in the area conquested by Alexander the Great. The editors, all celebrated classicists, intersperse chapters on political and social history with sections on literature, philosophy, and the arts, and reinforce the historical framework with maps and historical charts. Moreover, the contributors--thirty of the world's leading scholars--present the latest in modern scholarship through masterpieces of wit, brevity, and style. Together with hundreds of excellent illustrations, theses entries provide both a provocative and entertaining window into our classical heritage. ... Read more

Product Description
From the epic poems of Homer to the glittering art and architecture of Greece's Golden Age, to the influential Roman systems of law and leadership, the classical Greek world established the foundations of our culture as well as many of its most enduring achievements. Now, in this vivid volume, readers can embrace the spirit of the classical world, from the eighth to the first centuries B.C., a period unparalleled in history for its brilliance in literature, philosophy, and the visual arts. This work also treats the Hellenization of the Middle East by the monarchies established in the area conquered by Alexander the Great. The editors, all celebrated classicists, intersperse chapters on political and social history with sections on literature, philosophy, and the arts, and reinforce the historical framework with maps and historical charts. Moreover, the contributors--thirty of the world's leading scholars--present the latest in modern scholarship through masterpieces of wit, brevity, and style. Together with hundreds of excellent illustrations, these entries provide both a provocative and entertaining window into our classical heritage. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

The best of its genre
Clearly this is the best volume for introduction to the Hellenistic world. Too general would be a criticism for a work not intended to be anything other than an overview.

Too Generalized
Okay, let's start by making a disclaimer: this is an OLD book.It was first issued in 1986 as part of THE OXFORD HISTORY OF THE CLASSICAL WORLD, and it does show its age.It obviously hasn't been updated because it still contains references to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics as being a current government founded on democratic principles!

Putting its age aside, it's an okay read.The book is divided into articles detailing specific areas of interest: history, philosophy, epic poetry, culture, domestic life, etc.In other words, it's a survey of the Greek world.My problem is that the sections dealing specifically with history are so threadbare, and some very important topics are ignored completely.

There is no chapter on Minoan civilization, or even references to it, and the Mycenaean period is also absent.Why it starts with the Archaic period is not made clear.Perhaps in 1986 not enough was known to reconstruct either civilization adequately.Furthermore, discussion of pederasty is almost nonexistent.One chapter on poetry falsely states that pederasty wasn't a subject treated in epic poetry, when "Iliad" clearly portrays a love relationship between Achilles and Patroclos (though not explicitly sexual).Also, Haphaestian, Alexander the Great's gran amour isn't even mentioned!

The worst part of the book is Simon Price's reliance on Biblical literature to reconstruct areas of the Hellenistic period.There aren't many modern historians who treat the Bible as anything other than folklore, and rightly so.Equal skepticism is given to Herodotus, Thucydides, Polybius, Arian, etc., because they didn't use scientific methods to examine history.However, this book relies heavily on their work as well.

The essays on culture are much better than the essays on history.I particularly enjoyed the chapters on philosophy and "Life and Society."

I imagine this book would be ideal for a semester length class on Greece, but there are better survey history books than this one.I think it would have been better if the contributors had opted for a narrative structure closer to that used in The Oxford History of Egypt, which was very well done.

In conclusion, it's okay book, even if outdated; but it didn't live up to my expectations.

Hmmm...
This book is a bit disjointed because each chapter is written by a different author. So, it doesn't flow as easily as it could. Also, some of the authors go on and on about their particular topic of interest. For example,there is an entire chapter on Greek drama that is nearly 40 pages long. A chapter on Greek art and architecture that is 34 pages long. For me, this was too much. It may be right for you, though. Ancient Greece by Thomas Martin was a better read and had more of what I was looking for in a history book on ancient Greece.

The value of this book is high
Whether you're a newcomer to Greek history or someone who has already studied diverse segments of it looking to organize your knowledge, this book will be an aid. It is essentially an overview of the main studies - aka, philosophy, literature, politics, military, eras, etc. That said, as it is a compilation of all these diverse things, it tends to become less specialist and more general (big picture). That is why people who are intensely interested in Greek history would be better off buying books specializing in different parts of it, then buying this book to clarify and put into context what you've learned from those other sources. Newcomers can make use of it too, but there will undoubtedly be parts they won't be able to make sense of due to their inexpertise. By and large, however, this book is accessible and to varrying degrees useful to professionals, amateurs, longtime students, and newcomers alike - providing they can tolerate academic language.

The Oxford History of Greece & the Hellenistic World
Very detailed and interesting information.
It helped a lot prepraring for our trip to Rhodes and AThens ... Read more

Product Description
History, political philosophy, and constitutional law were born in Athens in the space of a single generation--the generation that lived through the Peloponnesian War (431-404 b.c.e.). This remarkable age produced such luminaries as Socrates, Herodotus, Thucydides, Sophocles, Euripides, Aristophanes, and the sophists, and set the stage for the education and early careers of Plato and Xenophon, among others. The School of History provides the fullest and most detailed intellectual and political history available of Athens during the late fifth century b.c.e., as it examines the background, the context, and the decisive events shaping this society in the throes of war. This expansive, readable narrative ultimately leads to a new understanding of Athenian democratic culture, showing why and how it yielded such extraordinary intellectual productivity.
As both a source and a subject, Thucydides' history of the Peloponnesian War is the central text around which the narrative and thematic issues of the book revolve. Munn re-evaluates the formation of the Greek historiographical tradition itself as he identifies the conditions that prompted Thucydides to write--specifically the historian's desire to guide the Athenian democracy as it struggled to comprehend its future.
The School of History fully encompasses recent scholarship in history, literature, and archaeology. Munn's impressive mastery of the huge number of sources and publications informs his substantial contributions to our understanding of this democracy transformed by war. Immersing us fully in the intellectual foment of Athenian society, The School of History traces the history of Athens at the peak of its influence, both as a political and military power in its own time and as a source of intellectual inspiration for the centuries to come.
A Main Selection of the History Book Club ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Athens and Thucydides Reconceived.
Athens was a democracy (roughly in the sense of being a political community in which participation in political and military practice was open to the poor general populace) for about a century.In that century, that city produced many of the most impressive artistic and cultural products of our society--the tradedies of Aeschylus and Sophocles, the history of Herodotus, etc., etc.--and also developed a rich empire around the Aegean Sea.For the last third of a that time, Athens was in on-and-off war with Sparta and through this war the democracy was ultimately lost, and was replaced by an oppressive oligarchy.The democracy was subsequently restored, without the accompanying empire.Mark Munn's book is a masterful historical study of this period of war with Sparta, which offers a compelling interpretation of the period as a whole while revising our understanding of a number of important historical questions.Munn's analysis of the importance of Persian influence in the war and his interpretation of the role of Alcibiades are both provocative and original.His most original contributions, though, pertain to the theme of writing--specifically, the crucial role of the _nomothetai_ in interpreting and writing down the Athenian laws, and the particular light this larger Athenian project of establishing accurate and authoritative legal writings has for the interpretation of Thucydides' writing of his history of the Peloponnesian War.Munn shows the project of establishing authoritative written laws to be interwoven with the conflicting agendas within the differing oligarchic communities within Athens, and especially shows the political importance of the growing sense of historical accuracy that accompanies this.Thucydides' writing, Munn argues, was essentially a political brief on the eve of the Corinthian War that makes sense in light of this development in legal writing._The School of History_ is a persuasive and engaging book, and should be standard reading for all historians, classicists and philosophers working with ancient Greece.It is destined, I am sure, to transform our understanding of Thucydides, and of Athenian democratic culture in general.

Thucydides, fair witness
Declared as an attempt by the author to understand the work of Thucydides, this history of the world of democratic Athens in the generation after Pericles is a low key yet gripping account of the maelstrom into which this great seminal era of political evolution passed. The great detail of the account matches both the magnificence and yet the somber context of the reality behind the usual glorified summary accounts of the world's first brief experience of true direct democracy, whose actual facts are at certain points almost an alarming eye-opener, from the immediate collision of class struggle in almost canonical form to the duress of empire, and the outcome of civil war. The work of Aristophanes, and its direct echoes of this period, especially stands out better understood in this blow by blow, as does the ambiguous division of history just here, with respect to its democratic ideals and its first dissenter, Socrates.The work brings home a claim to the solution of the mystery of Thycidides composition, that the rise of note-taking in this era vindicates the relative accuracy of the speeches long thought to be imaginative recreations. It is a strange account, rendered eerie in the author's meticulous drumbeat march through the labyrinth of recovered details.

Interesting subject, dull presentation
The author manages to hide an interesting story in a dull book. It reads like a scientific paper. No doubt the author knows his material, but he can't tell an interesting story. The history of Athens during the time of Socrates and Pericles has all the ingredients of a spell binding saga, but the professor's detached style conveys almost none of the excitement. Danald Kagan's book, "Pericles of Athens and the Birth of Democracy" is much more interesting.

Athenians Learn a Crucial Lesson from their Own History
Mark Munn has written a superb study of late fifth-century Athens focusing especially on the protracted struggle between the democrats and the oligarchs, and the effect which Thucydides' HISTORY OF THE PELOPONNESIAN WAR had on those men involved in that struggle.What is new and unique here is the importance Munn assigns to the role of history and memory in Athenian society.He shows how the Athenians' view of their past colored and shaped their political struggles.The Athenians were probably more sensitive to religious and political scandal in their own time than we are in ours.Munn writes in a very engaging style-especially in his account of the controversy surrounding Alcibiades.At last we have an answer to the question:When did Thucydides write his HISTORY, and why he left it unfinished.The SCHOOL OF HISTORY is a must read for anyone interested in Athens, Thucydides, or Alcibiades! ... Read more

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Charting topics as diverse as Minoan civilization, the Persian Wars, the Golden Age of Athens, and the conquests of Alexander the Great, this volume in Penguin's Atlas series traces the development of a creative and restless people and assesses their impact not only on the ancient world but also on our own attitudes and environment today. Full-color maps and b&w illus.Amazon.com Review
This well-illustrated volume is just the thing to have on hand while working your way through the pages of Xenophon, Herodotus, and Thucydides. Robert Morkot traces the growth of Greece from a series of often conflicting city-states, each with its own colonial outposts as far from home as Spain and Tunisia, to loosely knit alliances that waged huge conflicts against the Persian empire--and, as in the case of the Peloponnesian War, against each other. The pages devoted to Alexander the Great, which show how the Greek empire came to extend from southern Egypt to the gates of China are particularly interesting. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (16)

Ancient Greece Historical Atlas
The Penguin Historical Atlas of Ancient Greece makes a great resource for any library.It has colored maps with concise historical background and details related to the early history of Greece before the Roman conquest.Includes some images and a timeline as well.

Relatively boring
compared to other books having to deal with the subject matter this book is rather boring. But then I have never been that much of a fan of the subject matter either. It is rather small and if you just want a bullet point history then it is great but it tends to be harsh to read in my opinion.

Makes Something Complicated A Bit Easier
Sure, maybe Penguin waters things down a bit to much but when it comes to reading complicated primary texts or reviewing scholarly essays, sometimes you need something reliable, short, and to the point and this is it. Also, accompanying every section if a primary quote which I think is a nice touch, there are also good maps and some photographs. I am a fan.

Penguin can do better
With all the fine Classical scholars out there, why did Penguin pick an Egyptologist? The volume on Egypt isn't done by a scholar of Summerian history. His views are often dated, criticising or praising theories that are long since forgotten. A scholar like Peter Green could have made a fine book out of this.

Great help for History
The maps of countries change so much throughout history, making this book a must have for students of Greek history. ... Read more

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Greece - a Jewish history
This is a thoroughly researched book. It has been written in an engaging style so it is both entertaining and informative. The pictures are excellent, too. The history starts after Greek independence from Turkey in 1830 (or so) and takes you up to the Holocaust. There is a splendid introduction to the Jewish presence in Greece which dates back to pre-Christian days.

An excellent book
A very-well researched and well-drafted book, providing a wealth of information and invaluable insights into a little known aspect of the history of Greek Jews and of the Greek Jewish diaspora in the US. The author's personal interest in his subject is obvious throughout the book which, however, remains a fundamentally scientific piece of work. Highly recommended. ... Read more

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You choose: historical eras. Jump into a life from long ago! You choose who to be, where to go and what to do. Will you succeed? Will you fail? Will you even survive? It's up to you. You choose: warriors. The life of a warrior is full of danger, decision-making and glory. Now in our You choose format readers can live it. Each choice could lead to fame, riches or death. You, the reader, decides! ... Read more

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This volume provides a systematic historical survey of the methods and purposes of writing instruction in Western culture. The book traces the development of writing curricula from the earliest stages in ancient Greece to the standardization processes of the Roman period which dominated Western schools up to the 18th century. The next major sections outline the shift away from inherited European methods and the emergence of many competing purposes and methods in contemporary America.

While some other studies look at particular time periods or at certain issues, this book covers the entire development of writing instruction over a period of 2,500 years up to the present day. The longitudinal approach used enables the reader to track the recurrence over time of not only specific teaching methods but also such major issues as social purpose, writing as power, the effect of technologies, the rise of vernaculars, and writing as a force for democratization. The book concludes with 10 suggestions for further research to deepen understanding of the history of writing instruction.
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The classical civilizations of Greece and Rome once dominated the world, and they continue to fascinate and inspire us. Classical art and architecture, drama and epic, philosophy and politics--these are the foundations of Western civilization. In The Classical World, eminent classicist Robin Lane Fox brilliantly chronicles this vast sweep of history from Homer to the reign of Hadrian. From the Peloponnesian War through the creation of Athenian democracy, from the turbulent empire of Alexander the Great to the creation of the Roman Empire and the emergence of Christianity, Fox serves as our witty and trenchant guide. He introduces us to extraordinary heroes and horrific villains, great thinkers and blood-thirsty tyrants. Throughout this vivid tour of two of the greatest civilizations the world has ever known, we remain in the hands of a great master. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (23)

100% Satisfaction
I was very pleased with recieving this book.It was an excellent price and the quality of the book was as advertised, in excellent condition.

A magnificent, full-blooded, exciting and sympathetic history
"The Classical World: An Epic History of Greece and Rome" by Robin Lane Fox is an enormously ambitious book: it is a survey of almost a thousand years of complicated and interesting history in only 600 pages. Frankly, I'm generally skeptical of epic surveys - telescoped history is often watered-down history. Not so with "The Classical World", it is a magnificent, full-blooded, exciting and sympathetic account of Greece and Rome. Few scholars, I suspect, could pull-off anything similar: Lane Fox's classical knowledge is veritably encyclopedic. A particularly congenial aspect of the book is how Lane Fox's love for his subject matter shines through; he makes no apologies for his passion.

Negatives: a sometimes-ponderous writing style and a surfeit of French words, the themes of `luxury', `freedom' and `justice' seem occasionally procrustean, the book has a slow and somewhat confusing start and Lane Fox can be a bit pompous at times. All that said, I highly recommended it as an introduction to the classical world.

Well-Written but Reductive
In his "The Classical World:An Epic History of Greece and Rome," Oxford University's Robin Lane Fox tries to distill 900 years of classical history from the beginnings of Greek civilization to the rule of Hadrian, the Roman emperor fondest of Hellenic culture.Throughout Mr. Fox explores the themes of freedom, justice, and luxury, which was also what the ancients concerned themselves with as well.

Freedom, justice, and luxury are also themes that the thinkers and legislators of both Britain and America, as Rome's heirs, would also worry much about.Alexander Hamilton worried incessantly about luxury, and how it would drain the fledging republic's treasury and moral character.When Edmund Burke warned of the tension between liberty and empire he was referring to how young Englishmen were raping India and returning with the spoils to corrupt the British political process:for Burke, empire was a direct threat to British liberty.A much more vivid example found in "The Classical World" was Julius Caesar, whose ambitions were realized when he took command of Roman legions in Gaul, raped and pillaged these territories at the cost of millions of lives, and used the plunder to assure his political ascendancy back in Rome.(This is a disturbing insight into the nature of empire:the ambitious must exploit and expand the fringes of empire in order to rise successfully in the center.)

Mr. Fox thinks very little of Julius Caesar, who in his opinion was a mere opportunist who succeeded because of fortunate circumstances and the incompetence of his enemies.Mr. Fox also has nothing but outrageous slander for the other enemies of freedom and the republic:Mark Anthony a stupid thug, and Octavian a cowardly manipulator.Before Mr. Fox also writes how in destroying Greek freedom in order to advance his sense of freedom Alexander the Great was merely a product of the Macedonian warrior culture who sought conquest for the sake of conquest.Alexander the Great also had the good fortune to inherit tough veterans (soldiers who were still menacing and hardy even in their sixties) from his father.

This is most unfair and unkind of Mr. Fox.Both Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar were creative military geniuses, and in attacking Caesar so viciously for being the immediate destroyer of the Roman republic Mr. Fox forgets that neither Athenian democracy nor Roman republicanism were stable anyway.Human history is full of flux, and that's what accounts for creativity and diversity:Athenian democracy and Roman republicanism are temporary phenomena, as are Roman imperialism and the American hegemony of today.

If he's ambivalent about the Romans Mr. Fox has nothing but glowing admiration for the Athenians.Athens was one of many Greek city-states that were continually competing against each other.These Greek city-states were originally ruled by an aristocratic class that formed a powerful cavalry before they were overthrown by a change in military tactics (a hoplite formation whereby infantry could withstand a cavalry change) and by the disorder and instability caused by the aristocracy's inane self-defeating competition over luxury.Tyrannies arose throughout the Greek world to bring order and stability, but that threatened the Greeks' love of freedom and justice.The Greek city-states constantly struggled between order and freedom, and Athens upon overthrowing their tyrant decided upon a remarkable innovation:equal rights for all its male citizens.Male citizens were selected by lot to serve as magistrates in Athens, and so given the limited population of Athens every male had an opportunity to serve as magistrate in his life-time.Democracy required oratory, and with oratory culture and learning also flourished.The Greeks' love of freedom and their oratory were two critical factors in their successful defense against the massive Persian invasion, the definitive historical event in Mr. Fox's understanding that secured the safety of the young child of democracy in the world.

The Greeks' successors in upholding the Western tradition the Romans thought the Greeks were too dishonest, too clever, too corrupt, and too homosexual.If the Greeks worshipped the trickster Odysseus then the Romans worshipped Aeneas, whose one quality was that he was pious.The Romans were first and foremost pious, and they were a hardworking, virtuous, and simple breed who offered citizenship from all walks of life.Their virtues - honesty, simplicity, piety, and openness - were to be the bedrocks of their republic and their empire.Rome simply had the most stable, strongest, and most coherent society in their region, and it was natural that they would go out to conquer most of the known world.And when they did so it would also be natural that their original values would be diluted, and that they would over time become corrupted by luxury and empire.

Thus, what killed the Roman republic was the inevitable progress of history, and while Julius Caesar may have been a military genius he became one because Rome at that particular juncture permitted him to be one.After all, Rome had many military geniuses before, but the Roman people would have revolted against an all-conquering hero who tried too hard to push the boundaries of Rome, their traditions, and their liberty (for example, read Shakespeare's Coriolanus).By the time of Caesar, Rome was ready and willing to become an empire - all it needed was an emperor.

A book that attempted to cover 900 years of history in 600 pages is bound to be simplistic and reductive, and Robin Lane Fox clearly betrays his prejudices.Even Herodotus is fairer and more nuanced.Robin Lane Fox considers Themistocles an Athenian hero who saved Greek democracy against the Persians with his brilliant oratory and naval genius; Herodotus considers Themistocles a double-dealing thief who sought to save his own skin and who got stupid lucky against the Persians.

What ultimately propels the book is Mr. Fox's clear elegant prose, but even his writing cannot sustain the book.It is too long by half.

Bloodless and biased
In his wonderful book about Alexander the Great, Lane Fox writes: "I am bored by institutions and I do not believe in structures." As a motto for historical writing, this is excellent advice. I only wish he had taken it here.

Instead, we are presented with dry academical style writing, where "classes" pursue abstract goals (as if there were such a thing in real life) and "forces" determine events. If this technique is applied to the case at hand, we'd have to conclude that the privileged classes at Oxford try to further enrich themselves by exploiting the defenseless common book lover.

Unfortunately, this isn't the only or even the main fault of this book. Lane Fox operates with an inflexible set of moral prejudices (Greeks good, Romans bad, Spartans worse) and demands full submission to this scheme from historical facts. Unsurprisingly, this leads to huge distortions; for example, what Thucydides says about Athenians and Spartans has to be turned upside down. On the other hand, when a detail is to the author's liking, caution is completely thrown to the wind, and the most absurd anecdotes from ancient writers are presented as if they were well-established historical facts (so the obviously highly unlikely claim that Claudius was made emperor by Caligula's bodyguards on a whim when they found him hiding behind a curtain).

In summary, this was a big let-down. The book manages to be dull and annoying at the same time.

Textbook style writing
This is comprehensive and detailed, good perhaps as source for reference. It resembles a textbook more than a well integrated history. It hops from topic to topic, losing organizational coherence. And like many textbooks that one yawned through in school, it is a matter-of-fact presentation of information, with the prose lacking vitality.
It will be interesting to see if his most recent release has the same stylistic deficiencies. ... Read more