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Mount Athos: Renewal in Paradise
 
 
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Mount Athos: Renewal in Paradise [Paperback]

Graham Speake (Author)
5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)

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Book Description

July 11, 2004
Mount Athos, a spectacularly beautiful rocky peninsula on the coast of Greece, has been a monastic preserve since the ninth century. This richly illustrated book tells the entire story of Athos, the Holy Mountain, from the first anchorite monks who lived in caves and huts through centuries of political and religious controversy to the thriving monastic communities of today.
“Superb photographs, fascinating. Travelers and pilgrims alike, as well as those who prefer to stay at home, will relish this tour of Athos’s history, its relics and treasures, and, in part, its consciousness.”—Literary Review
“An all-embracing panorama of the nature and detailed history of Athos.”—Anglo-Hellenic Review
“This beautifully produced book contains everything the layman could wish to know about Athos. It is more, much more, than a mere travel book, though it would be a useful addition to the Orthodox pilgrim’s knapsack.”—The Tablet

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Mount Athos: Renewal in Paradise + Mount Athos - An Illustrated Guide to the Monasteries and Their History (Travel Guides) + The Monks of Mount Athos: A Western Monk's Extraordinary Spiritual Journey on Eastern Holy Ground
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"This beautifully produced book contains everything the layman could wish to know about Athos. It is more, much more, than a mere travel book, though it would be a useful addition to the Orthodox pilgrim's knapsack."—The Tablet


"Superb photographs, fascinating. Travelers and pilgrims alike, as well as those who prefer to stay at home, will relish this tour of Athos's history, its relics and treasures, and, in part, its consciousness.”—Literary Review

About the Author

Graham Speake is by training a classicist and by profession an academic publisher. He is founder and honorary secretary of the Friends of Mount Athos and a frequent visitor to the Mountain.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 308 pages
  • Publisher: Yale University Press (July 11, 2004)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0300103239
  • ISBN-13: 978-0300103236
  • Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #604,974 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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34 of 34 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars The definitive book on Mt Athos, April 12, 2003
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I have read several books on Mt Athos, a subject that has fascinated me for many years. This is the best English language book on the topic and one that I think would be difficult to be surpassed. It is scholarly without being "stuffy"; it is eminently readable without the simplistic approach of a tourist guide; it is almost encyclopedic but not fragmentary. And most importantly, coming from a person who apprently went through a spiritual journey, it is permeated by the deeper understanding that such experience brings.

I recommend it to anyone who plans to visit Athos or, for that matter, to everyone who already made the customary brief visit to the Holy Mountain as he will discover many things he probably missed, often the larger perspective of the place that is sadly lost in the brevity of an overnight stay.

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29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Next best thing to going!, March 15, 2004
This is a history not only of the Holy Mountain Athos, but also of the monks that inhabited it and those that dwell there to this very day. Speake has done a wonderfl job covering the world's influence on Athos as well as Athos' influence on the world.

It is incredibly refreshing to see a book about a monastic community published by a secular university press (Yale University) be free of the condescension and skepticism that one would expect to find. As a matter of fact, there's a general tone of reverence for the monks' traditions. It is, however, fair and balanced in the fact that he hasn't glossed over the rough patches of Athonite history.

Speake has produced a work of scholarship that is accessible to the academic and the average joe as well as to Orthodox and non-Orthodox. That is no small accomplishment.

Many people outside of Eastern Europe and the Middle East are embracing Orthodoxy today. This is happening in Asia, Africa, Western Europe, Oceania and the Americas. An intelligent, well written and accessible history (both political and spiritual) of Mount Athos in English is essential and Speake has provided us with what will surely be the standard for years to come. Athos is the center of world Orthodox monasticism and could be called "The Conscience of Orthodoxy." This book is essential for those wishing to understand Orthodoxy and particularly Orthodox monasticism.

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23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Extremely well done, February 8, 2005
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This review is from: Mount Athos: Renewal in Paradise (Paperback)
This is a first class publication (slick paper/good photographs/excellent documentation) on the history of the monastic communities on Mt. Athos. This information includes both the physical history along with the spiritual history (a sort of metahistory, so to speak). The author includes information on the various spiritual movements (hesychasts, etc) that have originated on this peninsula that, while located in northern modern Greece, is actually a sort of autonomous republic. Especially interesting is the information on the unexpected, amazing renewal that is taking place there. 30 years ago, the end of Mt. Athos was in sight. Now, new monks come and the monasteries are again flourishing. Amazing. Also interesting is the information on Mt. Athos's place in the EU, and what that membership may mean to the monks. At any rate, this is a first rate book of interest to anyone who is interested in christian spirituality in general, and orthodox spirituality in particular.
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First Sentence:
When Robert Byron stood on the peak of Athos at sunset one September evening in 1926, he claimed that to the east he could see not only Lemnos but also the coast of Asia Minor beyond: 'the plains of Troy, whence Tozer saw this platform of ours "towering up from the horizon, like a vast spirit of the waters, when the rest of the peninsula is concealed below"'. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Mount Athos, Mother of God, Great Lavra, Bishop Kallistos, Divine Liturgy, Prophet Elijah, Asia Minor, Elder Joseph the Hesychast, Gregory Palamas, Ecumenical Patriarchate, Holy Epistasia, Jesus Prayer, Megiste Lavra, Amand de Mendieta, Steven Runciman, First World War, Great Friday, Holy Trinity, Stefan Dushan, Sydney Loch, Abbot Ephraim, Alexander the Great, European Union, Philip Sherrard, Second World War
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