Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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".

A Brief History of Ancient Greece is exactly that--brief. It is great for an overview of big events and people.
There are definitely better books on Ancient Greece that one could buy. This was required for one of my college classes so I needed to buy it. It is definitely not an enjoyable read as it is not very well written and again, quite brief.
I do recommend this book if you're looking for a general overview that doesn't go into much detail.

I bought this book for a class on Greek and Roman history and I found it useful and interesting to read.

This book got to me by the fastest available date. Really pleased with the speediness of shipment/delivery and also, the textbook was in amazing condition! Great value all around.

This book is absolutely fantastic. It's been very informative and is written in a very comprehensible manner. The only problems I have with the book is that not all of the "key terms" found throughout the book are defined in the glossary.

fantastic condition, delivered within four days, good value. I would buy from this seller again.

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.

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