The Shortest History of Greece: The Odyssey of a Nation from Myth to Modernity

Discover the cultural and political riches of Greece across 3,000 years, from classical might to modern rebirth. The Shortest History books deliver thousands of years of history in one riveting, fast-paced read. Philosophy, art, democracy, language, even computersthe glories of Greek civilization have shaped our world even more profoundly than we realize. Pericles and the Parthenon may be familiar, but what of Epaminondas, the Theban general who saved the Greek world from Spartan tyranny? Alexander the Greats fame has rolled down the centuries, but the golden Hellenistic Age that followed is largely forgotten. Byzantine conjures decadence and deadly intrigue, yet the thousand-year empire that ruled from Constantinople and saved Europe twice from invasion was, in fact, Greek. Greeces modern chapter, too, tells of triumph and calamityfrom liberation and expansion to schism, homegrown dictatorship, Nazi occupation, and civil war. Todays nation is battered by austerity, encroaching climate change, and a refugee crisisyet unwavering in its ancient values. James Heneage captures the full Grecian drama in this riveting, short history, revealing Greece as the wellspring of Western civilizationand a model that may yet save modern democracy. 76 B&W maps and images