The Greek World 479-323 BC (Routledge History of the Ancient World) [Paperback]

Simon Hornblower (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0415153441 | ISBN-13: 978-0415153447 | Publication Date: June 30, 2002 | Edition: 3

The Greek World 479-323 BC has been an indispensable guide to classical Greek history since its first publication. Now Simon Hornblower has comprehensively rewritten and revised his original text, bringing it up to date for a new generation of readers. The extensive changes made include the addition of two important new chapters - on Argos, and the Peloponnesian War - and the incorporation of further primary sources. Also new are more than thirty illustrations, the insertion of user-friendly subheadings, and a completely updated bibliography. With valuable coverage of the broader Mediterranean world in which Greek culture flourished, as well as close examination of Athens, Sparta, and the other great city-states of Greece itself, this third edition of a classic work is a more essential read than ever.

Editorial Reviews

Review

`To write a standard history which contains the essential material and yet is interesting and says things which have not been said before is one of the hardest tasks. Hornblower has performed it excellently.' - Times Literary Supplement

`Packed with worthwhile ideas and impressive erudition. It will stimulate thought'. - David Whitehead, Classical Review

`An undergraduate text book which neither the professional ancient historian can afford to ignore nor the interested non specialist fail to read with profit and pleasure' - History Today

About the Author

Simon Hornblower is Professor of Ancient History at University College London. He was previously a Fellow of Oriel College and Lecturer in Ancient History at the University of Oxford. His many publications in Greek history and classical civilization include Greek Historiography (2000), A commentary on Thucydides (1997), The Oxford Classical Dictionary\i0 (edited with Antony Spawforth, 1996), and \i The Cambridge Ancient History Vol. VI: The Fourth Century BC\i0 (edited with D. M. Lewis, John Boardman and Martin Ostwald, 1994).

Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Routledge; 3 edition (June 30, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0415153441
• ISBN-13: 978-0415153447
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,336,327 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fresh as if it happened yesterday, August 12, 2007

By 

Benedikt Berninger (Munich, Germany) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Greek World 479-323 BC (Routledge History of the Ancient World) (Paperback)

I am not an historian nor student of history, but just an aficionado. As such I got a big fan of the Routledge History of the Ancient World Series. This volume covers the period of classical Greece, more or less from the time when democracy had been already firmly established in Athens up to the life of Alexander the Great. The book has some very strong points, for instance by describing Greece in all its heterogeneity of places and political systems. It gives a very good analysis of the way wars (such as the famous Peloponesian described by Thukydides) came about and what their consequences were. What to my feeling is covered to little is the cultural aspect. In a previous part of the series, on archaic Greece (Greece in the Making) cultural aspects form a more integral part while in the present volume they appear more or less en passant. Yet it is the time of Socrates, Plato, Aristotle that is covered. May be these fellows were politically not very important, but still. However, this critique should not be taken as a suggestion to change the book, bnut rather to add a second volume on the classical Greek world covering Art, Philosophy and Science.

4 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Yawn, August 27, 2008

By 

Roo "Roo" (Whitestone, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Greek World 479-323 BC (Routledge History of the Ancient World) (Paperback)

This book is devoid of exciting details, and assumes you already know the story, or are reading the sources. Its like a commentary on the evidence, Prosopographical, Archeological, and if your not a PHD or Grad School aspirant, dont pick it up, you'll find the dictionary more exciting.
There is a far easier and more interesting "Concise History of Greece" by Peter Green written in the 70's thats still available. It does use a great deal of Archeological, Geographical information, and is very readable. This Routledge book doesn't read well, and the exciting details are left out. Why skip the cruelty of Sicilian Tyrants, and not even have a narrative of them? This book is more like a guidebook that must be used along with a real narrative book, to kind of fill in the details. Its like the kind of book that would turn off an undergraduate student so much the student will forever loath Ancient Greece, for having to read this book twice, a 2nd time because they flunked the midterm. Its for the experienced Grad student, so if its not on your syllabus, don't make the mistake I did.