2008-09-19 The Greeks, Minos to Alexander, In under 400 pages.

It is called a 'brief history' but it is surprisingly in-depth. This book in truth strikes a nice equilibrium between the readable and scholarly. It manages to cover all of the clear-cut salient points in regards to Greek history, politics, arts, culture and science. It happens to do it in some degree of detail yet also manages to touch on the surrounding historiography while also including a bibliography for those wanting to explore further. You hear of the 'Dorian invasion' theory and Sparta in regards to Nazi Germany and Communism, yet this book does not wish to interpose its opinions; it merely provides the salient details, key debates and at the most comes to the most likely conclusion. This is what you need from both a text book and an introduction.

The narrative begins in Neolithic prehistory and then proceeds through the Bronze age, Dark Ages, Archaic, Classical and Hellenistic (c.6500BC-167 BC). Individual chapters are devoted to the city-states of Sparta, Athens and Macedonia; Interspersed within the chapters are segments on arts, literature, science and philosophy. To guide us along we get a timeline, a glossary, 16 maps and many black and white photos detailing the ancient world in all its finery. Extracts from key texts such as Homer, Thucydides and Sophocles are provided along the way. It is really quite thorough for a 'brief history'. Think of this book as an in-depth contents page for a website: you are provided with a readable summery but the links exist if you want to pursue further.

This on the surface seems a classic text-book affair and certainly I would recommend this for the class-room. It also however is a perfect summery for those wanting to begin exploring ancient-Greece on their own initiative.