The Penguin History of Greece offers a one-volume history of Hellas, and is principally written for the reader who is not a student or expert in classical literature. Readable, erudite, enthusiastic and balanced, it sweeps the reader along from the days of Mycenae to the splendors of Athens and to the conquests of Alexander and the last dark ages, ably pin-pointing the culture, society and politics of an astonishing people.
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THE earliest surprise in Greek prehistory - for the date of the (Neanderthal?) Petralona skull is now considered controversial - is of mesolithic, pre-agricultural date. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
THE earliest surprise in Greek prehistory - for the date of the (Neanderthal?) Petralona skull is now considered controversial - is of mesolithic, pre-agricultural date. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
This book is gem. It has a wealth of information crammed into a small paperback. At times it seemed like almost too much information to process. It is a book I go back to and reread parts of it. Well researched and the author does not waste his words. I particularly liked reading about the accounts of Socrates and Plato and some inspiring quotes from others such as Xenophanes. For those more interested in military and political history there is no shortage of that.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By James Horgan
Comprehensive education had no time for the Greek history previous generations were raised on. I read this book to fill this gap and it didn't disappoint. 400 pages takes you from the earliest Greek colonists of their homeland to decline under Rome. The bulk of the book covers Greek expansion in the ancient world, dramatic conflicts with Persia and the rivalry between Sparta and Athens before Alexander and his chaotic legacy provide the final Hellenic flourish.
Though we trace many of our aspirations back to Greece it is important, as the author reminds us, not to shape the Greeks in the image of ourselves. They possessed a hardness without chivalry in their relationships on all levels. Perhaps the lack of this Christian virtue inevitably hampered lasting success for anything bigger than the local city.
The text is fairly dense with occasional sentences overfilled with subclauses. Nonetheless the vast majority is well written given how much information is conveyed.
Though we trace many of our aspirations back to Greece it is important, as the author reminds us, not to shape the Greeks in the image of ourselves. They possessed a hardness without chivalry in their relationships on all levels. Perhaps the lack of this Christian virtue inevitably hampered lasting success for anything bigger than the local city.
The text is fairly dense with occasional sentences overfilled with subclauses. Nonetheless the vast majority is well written given how much information is conveyed.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
5.0 out of 5 stars
1 review
5.0 out of 5 stars
An excellent Penguin/Pelican ancient Greek history
18 Jan 2013
By Brisbane reader
- Published on Amazon.com
Last revised, according to the Foreword p. 14, in 1984 A.R. Burn's "The Penguin (or Pelican) History of Greece" is an excellent middle length (well under 400 Penguin pages of text) one volume history of ancient Greece. It is accessible and well written and sectioned to read in easy stages. A cheap and easily available paperback it deserves updating and reprinting as an alternative to outrageously expensive university level ancient histories!
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