Greece: Biography of a Modern Nation - Softcover

Beaton, Roderick

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0141986522 ISBN 13: 9780141986524

Publisher: Penguin, 2020

Synopsis

SHORTLISTED FOR THE CUNDILL HISTORY PRIZE 2020 AND THE RUNCIMAN AWARD 2021

A FINANCIAL TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR

'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

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.

About this title

About the Author

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'.

From the Back Cover

Three-time winner of the Runciman Award Roderick Beaton looks at the centuries of events that have shaped the intricacies of Greece's unique position within Europe today. Contextualises the nation-state's contribution to arts, sciences, social sciences and politics.

Edition details

• Publisher: Penguin
• Publication date: 2020
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0141986522
• ISBN 13: 9780141986524
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 496