A "monumental, sweeping" (Peter Frankopan, author of The Silk Roads)
history of the Greeks, from the Bronze Age to today
More than two thousand years ago, the Greek city-states, led by Athens
and Sparta, laid the foundation for much of modern science, the arts,
politics, and law. But the influence of the Greeks did not end with the
rise and fall of this classical civilization. As historian Roderick
Beaton illustrates, over three millennia Greek speakers produced a
series of civilizations that were rooted in southeastern Europe but
again and again ranged widely across the globe.
In The Greeks, Beaton traces this history from the Bronze Age
Mycenaeans who built powerful fortresses at home and strong trade routes
abroad, to the dramatic Eurasian conquests of Alexander the Great, to
the pious Byzantines who sought to export Christianity worldwide, to
today's Greek diaspora, which flourishes on five continents. The product
of decades of research, this is the story of the Greeks and their global
impact told as never before.
