A Brief History of Ancient Greece: Politics, Society, and Culture (Paperback)

by Sarah B. Pomeroy (Author), Stanley M. Burstein (Author), Walter Donlan (Author), Jennifer Tolbert Roberts (Author) "The most charismatic cultural hero of the ancient Greeks was Odysseus, a man who "saw the towns of many men and learned their minds, and..." (more)
Key Phrases: companion cavalry, sacred war, Peloponnesian War, New York, Dark Age (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
The story of the ancient Greeks is one of the most improbable success stories in world history. A small people inhabiting a country poor in resources and divided into hundreds of quarreling states created one of the most remarkable civilizations of antiquity. Comprehensive and balanced, A Brief History of Ancient Greece: Politics, Society, and Culture, Second Edition, is a shorter version of the authors' highly successful Ancient Greece: A Political, Social, and Cultural History, Second Edition (OUP, 2007). Four leading authorities on the classical world offer a lively and up-to-date account of Greek civilization and history in all its complexity and variety, covering the entire period from the Bronze Age through the Hellenistic Era, and integrating the most recent research in archaeology, comparative anthropology, and social history. Using physical evidence from archaeology, the written testimony of literary texts and inscriptions, and anthropological models based on comparative studies, this compact volume provides an account of the Greek world that is thoughtful and sophisticated yet accessible to students and general readers with little or no knowledge of Greece.
A Brief History of Ancient Greece, Second Edition, is concise enough to be used alongside other books in courses in Greek Civilization, Greek and Roman Civilization, Ancient Greece, or Western Civilization. It is enhanced by text boxes featuring excerpts from ancient documents, an extensive glossary, and a timeline and general introduction that provide a bird's-eye view of Greek history.
New to the Second Edition
* New sections on childhood and on marriage and burial rituals
* An expanded treatment of religion
* A revised art program that includes a new 8-page full-color photo insert, 125 black-and-white photographs and illustrations, and 17 new and improved custom-drawn maps
* Key terms--in boldface type when they first appear in the text and listed at the end of each chapter
* Selective, up-to-date recommendations for further reading
* A companion website featuring student self-quizzes, discussion questions, flashcards of key terms, chapter summaries, a pronunciation guide, links to useful websites, and PowerPoint lecture outlines

About the Author
Sarah B. Pomeroy is with Hunter College and CUNY Graduate Center. Stanley M. Burstein is with California State University, Los Angeles. The Late Walter Donlan was with the University of California. Jennifer Tolbert Roberts is with City College and CUNY Graduate Center.

Product Details

• Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; 2 edition (December 16, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195372352
• ISBN-13: 978-0195372359
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #183,705 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great for an overview, June 26, 2009

By	Kolya Krasotkin - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Brief History of Ancient Greece: Politics, Society and Culture (Paperback)

This book's principle virtue is that it is short, but complete. It gives a good sense of the larger trends in Greek history; it is especially good at showing how changes in society relate to the "big" dates and political events. Greek history emerges as an interconnected process, instead of "one thing after another."

Each chapter has a really thoughtfully compiled bibliography. These bibliographical lists are not comprehensive; they are a reliable guide to readable, high quality material that fleshes out, and complicates some of the ideas advanced in the text. Any reader, from layperson to an expert in some aspect of the ancient world can count on these lists to point them to consistently rewarding further reading, and this in my opinion is much more useful than a guide to detailed scholarly arguments about the dating of a single group of potsherds. I got this book when I was quite pressed for time, but the short chapters left me ample time to explore the rich works suggested in the bibliographies.

The book is also refreshingly free of old-fashioned unqualified assertions about the "triumph" of Greek civilization. Ancient Greece is explored as a territory and a culture in its own right, and not merely as the beginnings of some vague "Western Civilization".

0 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Presents history in an easy to read way, September 29, 2008

By	J. K. Jones (Bozeman, MT USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: A Brief History of Ancient Greece: Politics, Society, and Culture (Paperback)

I bought this book for History of Ancient Greece. Unlike some boring history texts, it is quick reading and easy to understand.

4 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars As Far as Greek Texts go this one is greart!, September 11, 2005

By	Jonathan W. Panofsky "Book Lover713" (Philadelphia, PA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: A Brief History of Ancient Greece: Politics, Society, and Culture (Paperback)

Ok I love this text. I used this and its sister text on Romans for my ancient history classes. I find that the only down fall of this particular text is that Pomeroy tends to push her agenda in the beginning. However as far as texts on Greek History go, this is the best.