Ancient Greece: An Illustrated History (Illustrated National Histories) [Paperback]

Peter Green (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Thames & Hudson (August 1979)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0500271615
• ISBN-13: 978-0500271612
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.7 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #776,919 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Vivid beginner's guide to stony Attica, September 27, 2004

By 

Erik G. Olson (Greenfield, WI United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ancient Greece: An Illustrated History (Illustrated National Histories) (Paperback)

This book is an introductory survey of the civilizations on ancient
Crete, Greece, and the Greek cities of Asia Minor.

From the outset he acquaints the reader with the interpreting of
physical artefacts, texts and also the impact of geography and
climate.

He draws on insights from images on ceramic, emphasizes the larger
contributions of written records, and points out for the student where
speculation must stop. For example, despite passionate and clashing
assertions, nobody really knows what the "Archaic smile" signifies on
statues from Miletus, though Miletus' philosophical currents were of
huge importance.


What drew me in to the book was the early geographical theme. Mr.
Green links the Greek proclivity to open-air discourse and oratory to
the abundance of clear weather, and matches class differences to the
different uses of the land.

This approach pays off in the telling of Athens' political feuding and
Cleisthenes' redistribution of tribes in 508, after which he says
"Athenian democracy had at last come of age."

Professor Green's specialty is the 4th century BC.

This book delivers more concepts more rapidly than other survey
works such as the Pelican Greek Ancient History.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My favorite author on ancient Greece, July 31, 2003

By 

Christine Miller (Colorado) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ancient Greece: An Illustrated History (Illustrated National Histories) (Paperback)

I just had to laugh when I saw the previous reviewer's comment that Peter Green's area of expertise was not ancient Greece. It certainly is! He has written a critically acclaimed biography of Alexander the Great, Alexander of Macedon 356-323 BC: A Historical Biography, ..., as well as numerous histories of many of the pivotal events in Ancient Greece.

10 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If you love history you will love this book!, March 31, 2000

By 

"dreimaster" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ancient Greece: An Illustrated History (Illustrated National Histories) (Paperback)

Peter Green is correct in saying, "The Greeks have influenced Western society more, and more fundamentally, than any other nation in history." The Greeks introduced much of the vitality into our aesthetics, literature, ethics, and our language. Their wars with Persia saved the West. The Greeks insisted on making sense of things. The world must have an order, and the Greeks had the intelligence and fortitude to discover it. Likely, their elite were as close to gods as man has yet become. Athens, with about 50,000 citizens, produced more knowledge than today's cites of over a million. If you are a serious person on history this is the book for you.