The Greeks: History, Culture, and Society [Paperback]

Ian Morris (Author), Barry B. Powell (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 013921156X | ISBN-13: 978-0139211560 | Publication Date: March 21, 2005

Organized chronologically, this book presents a complete picture of Greek civilization as a history. It features sections on the art, architecture, literature, and thought of each period. Names and dates are provided, and cultural achievements and social transformations that accompanied the cascade of historical events are carefully examined. This comprehensive, balanced treatment of ancient Greece covers its history from the prehistoric through the Mycenaean Period, the Dark Ages, the Classical Period, the Hellenistic, and the absorption of Greek culture by Rome. For an understanding of Greek history—its culture and the people—as a whole.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Ian Morris is the Jean and Rebecca Willard Professor of Classics and Professor of History at Stanford University, where he teaches large lecture courses on ancient empires and Greek history. He is either the author or the editor of nine books on ancient history and archaeology, and directs a major archaeological excavation in Sicily. His latest book, Why the West Rules … For Now will appear in 2010. He has lectured at universities across America and Europe, and r appeared on television on the History Channel, Discovery Channel, and A&E Channel.

Barry B. Powell is the Halls-Bascom Professor of Classics Emeritus at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where in his long career he was well known as a teacher of large lecture classes in ancient civilization and myth and for seminars on Homer. He has lectured in many countries and is the author of the bestselling Classical Myth (6^th edition, 2008), widely used in college courses. He is best known as the author of Homer and the Origin of the Greek Alphabet (1991), which argues that the Greek alphabet was invented in order to record the poems of Homer. With Ian Morris he published the internationally admired A New Companion to Homer (1997). The 2^nd edition of his popular introductory text Homer appeared in 2007, and he has written numerous other books, articles, screenplays, a novel, poetry, and a mock-epic The War at Troy: A True History (2006). He Recently, he appeared on the History Channel special Troy: The True Story (2005). His study Writing: Theory and History of the Technology of Civilization (2008) establishes a scientific terminology for studying the history of writing.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 576 pages
• Publisher: Prentice Hall (March 21, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 013921156X
• ISBN-13: 978-0139211560
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #271,586 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Ian Morris teaches classics, history, and archaeology at Stanford University. Born in Stoke-on-Trent, England, in 1960, he now lives in the Santa Cruz Mountains in California. He has directed excavations in Greece, and Italy, and has published 11 books and more than 80 articles. His most recent book, "Why the West Rules--For Now: The Patterns of History, and What They Reveal About the Future" (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2010), tells the stories of East and West across the last 15,000 years, from the final days of the Ice Age into the 22nd century, explaining why the West came to dominate the rest--and what will happen next. His next book, called "War! What is It Good For?" will tell the story of war from prehuman times to our own, making two controversial claims--first, that war has helped humanity as well as harming it; and second, that war is now changing out of all recognition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An intelligent and engaging textbook, January 3, 2007

By 

Jack Donnellly (Denver, CO USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Greeks: History, Culture, and Society (Paperback)

Textbooks have, deservedly, a bad reputation. Morris and Powell have written a textbook that is also a pleasure to read. This truly fine book covers the full range of material, but with style and flair. It is also well illustrated and makes very effective use of original source material. And their use of what they call "the Greek problem" -- how to organize social life "withough God or gods to reveal" a pattern -- is extremely effective. There are a number of good overview introductory books out there on the Greeks, but none better. The only drawback is a fairly hefty pricetag.