Greece
Biography of a Modern Nation
Published on 7. March 2019
Book
Hardback
496 pages
978-0-241-31284-1 (ISBN)
Description
SHORTLISTED FOR THE CUNDILL HISTORY PRIZE 2020 AND THE RUNCIMAN AWARD 2021
A FINANCIAL TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR
We think we know ancient Greece, the civilisation that shares the same name and gave us just about everything that defines 'western' culture today, in the arts, sciences, social sciences and politics. Yet, as Greece has been brought under repeated scrutiny during the financial crises that have convulsed the country since 2010, worldwide coverage has revealed just how poorly we grasp the modern nation. This book sets out to understand the modern Greeks on their own terms.
How did Greece come to be so powerfully attached to the legacy of the ancients in the first place, and then define an identity for themselves that is at once Greek and modern? This book reveals the remarkable achievement, during the last 300 years, of building a modern nation on, sometimes literally, the ruins of a vanished civilisation. This is the story of the Greek nation-state but also, and perhaps more fundamentally, of the collective identity that goes with it. It is not only a history of events and high politics, it is also a history of culture, of the arts, of people and of ideas.
A FINANCIAL TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR
We think we know ancient Greece, the civilisation that shares the same name and gave us just about everything that defines 'western' culture today, in the arts, sciences, social sciences and politics. Yet, as Greece has been brought under repeated scrutiny during the financial crises that have convulsed the country since 2010, worldwide coverage has revealed just how poorly we grasp the modern nation. This book sets out to understand the modern Greeks on their own terms.
How did Greece come to be so powerfully attached to the legacy of the ancients in the first place, and then define an identity for themselves that is at once Greek and modern? This book reveals the remarkable achievement, during the last 300 years, of building a modern nation on, sometimes literally, the ruins of a vanished civilisation. This is the story of the Greek nation-state but also, and perhaps more fundamentally, of the collective identity that goes with it. It is not only a history of events and high politics, it is also a history of culture, of the arts, of people and of ideas.
Reviews / Votes
The best history of Greece around... Beautifully written and packed with insights about the culture and the people. I will be dipping into this book for the rest of my life. -- Victoria Hislop * The Week * His new book - judicious, well-researched and commendably up-to-date - deserves to be the standard general history of modern Greece in English for years to come. * Financial Times * Apart from his extraordinary erudition and scholarship, Beaton writes with measured compassion and a refreshingly straightforward style ... A magisterial and user-friendly study. -- Richard Pine * Irish Times * Beaton salts the story with fascinating details which consistently surprise ... A scholarly and elegant introduction to this beguiling country. Serious students of history should read it, and no visitor to Greece should leave home without it. -- Sean McMeekin * Literary Review * Splendid ... Mr Beaton's biographical conceit keeps the narrative focused, lively and clear ... both gripping and remarkably balanced. -- David Mason * Wall Street Journal * This book explores the history, not of a Greece of romantic or philhellenic imagination, but the reality of the country as it has become today. The empathy it evokes for the survival of modern Greek statehood against a recurring pattern of often existential crisis is all the more compelling, subtle and above all human in its many-sidedness. Beaton's account instantly becomes the single most outstanding treatment of its subject and shows us why - as Lord Palmerston expressed it succinctly for his own times - 'Greece' is an emotional word that still matters to contemporary society. -- Professor Robert Holland A wonderfully engaging narrative ... It is a superb achievement and to be recommended to anyone with even the most rudimentary interest -- Professor Kevin Featherstone A perceptive analysis of Greece's financial crisis, the embers of which continue to threaten to derail the single currency project of the EU * Country Life * Praise for Byron's War: Indispensable * Literary Review *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Penguin Books Ltd
Target group
Professional and scholarly
College/higher education
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 162 mm
Thickness: 44 mm
Weight
782 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-241-31284-1 (9780241312841)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
03/2019
1st Edition
Penguin Books Ltd
€10.99
Available for download
Person
Roderick Beaton is the Emeritus Koraes Professor of Modern Greek and Byzantine History, Language and Literature at King's College London. He is a three-time winner of the Runciman Award, for his books George Seferis: Waiting for the Angel: A Biography, An Introduction to Modern Greek Literature, and Byron's War: Romantic Rebellion, Greek Revolution, which was also shortlisted for the Duff Cooper Prize. He is a Fellow of the British Academy, and in 2019 was made a Commander of the Order of Honour of the Hellenic Republic, in recognition of his 'distinguished contribution to the study of Modern Greek and Byzantine History, Language and Literature'.