From Democrats to Kings [Hardcover]

Michael Scott (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2009

Athens, 404 BC. The Democratic city-state has been ravaged by a long and bloody war with neighbouring Sparta. The search for scapegoats begins and Athens, liberty's beacon in the ancient world, turns its sword on its own way of life. Civil war and much bloodshed ensue. Defining moments of Greek history, culture, politics, religion and identity are debated ferociously in Athenian board rooms, back streets and battlefields. By 323 BC, less than 100 years later, Athens and the rest of Greece, not to mention a large part of the known world, has come under the control of an absolute monarch, a master of self-publicity and a model for despots for millennia to come: 'megas alexandros', Alexander the Great. Michael Scott, Finley Fellow in Ancient History at Darwin College, Cambridge, explores the dramatic and little-known story of how the ancient world was turned on its head from Democratic Athens to King Alexander the Great in this superb example of popular history writing. "From Democrats to Kings" also gives us a fresh take on the similar challenges we face today in the 21st century - a world in which many democracies - old and new - fight for survival, in which war-time and peace-time have become indistinguishable and in which the severity of the economic crisis is only matched by a crisis in our own sense of self.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'England's answer to Indiana Jones' Daily Star

About the Author

Michael Scott, 27, is currently Moses and Mary Finley Fellow in Ancient History at Darwin College, Cambridge. During 2007 and 2008 he was a guest lecturer aboard the easyCruise tour of Classical Greece. He is an on-screen historical consultant for the History Channel's new series of Ancient Discoveries, due for broadcast in March 2009. From Democrats to Kings is his first book. www.michaelcscott.com

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Icon Books; 1St Edition edition (October 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1848310730
• ISBN-13: 978-1848310735
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,936,521 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A single lifetime of history well explained., December 16, 2009

By 

Valmont (London, England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: From Democrats to Kings (Hardcover)

The 4th Century has long been difficult period of Greek history to penetrate. Full of fascinating characters and the extreems of democracy and monarchy it has generated Hollywood epics (300 and Alexander) together with dry scholarly works dealing with one element or the other.

What has been lacking is one continuos narrative that charts the progress of democratic Athens to a Macedonian empire rulled by one man. Dr Scott's book fills that gap and tells the story from the perspective of a single lifetime - that of Isocrates' impressive 98 years.

I liked this book. It didn't preach from the academic pulpit or set out to demonstrate the genius of the author. For me, the narrative flowed from beginning to end injecting the pace of a novellist with the accuracy of a scholar.

The key players are quoted in a way that brings the subject to life and small details interplay well with the big historical drama. For example the Athenian prisoners arrogant request for their clothes and bedding after their crushing defeat at the battle of Chaeronea, twinned with Philip's jovial reaction, sets the scene for the broader political reaction across Greece.

For those who want to delve into this period in more detail there is a heap of source material at the back together with an excellent timeline and some really useful maps.

Hats off to Dr Scott for writing a book that allows both an enthusiastic amateur and a university undergraduate to navigate a relatively uncharted period of history with confidence. The many pieces of the 4th Century jigsaw have now fallen into place.

I look forward to reading more by this author.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fascinating history, elegantly told, December 21, 2009

By 

Antis (London, United Kingdom) - See all my reviews

This review is from: From Democrats to Kings (Hardcover)

VenusInScorpio may have read almost every single book that survives written in Greek or Latin before the Fall of Rome, but I'm not sure s/he has actually read the book under discussion. I found From Democrats to Kings to be readable and well-paced. The judgments that Dr Scott makes about the Spartans being "bullies" or Alexander being a "mummy's boy" are not central themes of what is essentially a narrative history. They were, however, two aspects of the book that received widespread press coverage when it was published, notably in the review that appeared in the Independent. It appears that VenusInScorpio's assessment might have been based on the content of the reviews rather than the book itself.

From Democrats to Kings is a "popular" history book. Books in this category are always open to the criticism that they do not refer often or explicitly enough to the primary sources. But Dr Scott's book is not trying to break new academic ground: it is a survey of the period, designed to be accessible to non-specialist readers. Apart from a couple of mildly irritating references to recent Hollywood films, the book works extremely well - Dr Scott has a gift for telling a story and an ability to deliver pithy summaries of characters or places at just the right moment in the text. As others have commented on this site, the book is also very well produced, with a helpful index, bibliography and timeline.

If we want to debate Dr Scott's credentials as a writer of "serious" academic history, I note that Cambridge University Press are publishing a book of his next year on his research at Delphi and Olympia. I look forward to reading it.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Refreshing take on history, December 19, 2009

By 

c - See all my reviews

This review is from: From Democrats to Kings (Hardcover)

As someone with a relatively limited knowledge of history, especially the ancient world, this was an excellent introduction. Michael has made the material very accessible with the use of an entertaining storyline and provocative anecdotes throughout. Notably the book is peppered with examples of how the decisions and experiences in the ancient world relate to our modern reality. Too often lessons from history are overlooked. In some ways we are thrown into the world at a time we haven't chosen and can't fully comprehend; this book provides a refreshing and valuable perspective that can help us to understand how we got to where we are today.