Customer Reviews

In the Shadow of Olympus: The Emergence of Macedon (Princeton Paperbacks)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I bought this book expecting a major critique on the so-called "Greek position" and found nothing of the sort. Grossly misrepresented on both the internet and in other publications, Borza has often been presented as a staunch advocate for a position in the "Macedonian Question". The truth is virtually the opposite! Borza, as with all objective historians, takes no position on this topic other than providing an overview of recent historiography of the region, a topic to which some mention of the practice of nationalist history is usually indispensable.

The Focus of this book, not unlike the works of Hammond and Errington, is strictly on Macedonian history as historians, both modern and ancient, know it. This book however focuses on a much less-known period of Macedonian history, so those looking for an account on Alexander should look elsewhere. It is perhaps unusual how the book focuses on this history with much greater detail than other books, and the author has been overly commended for this effort. I will not dwell on the author here, but anyone who is vaguely aware of this subject should not need further convincing of his reputation and the respect he receives from other scholars within his field.

Since I choose to respect Amazon's reviewing system, I do not see the need to espouse my own opinions on the question of Macedonian ethnicity or further the agendas of those who do. It is clear that among most historians there is little disagreement on the subject other than on trivial matters of interpretation, and in any case the places where there seems to be conflicting opinions are of little relevance to the question of ethnicity. It is also here where evidence drastically diminishes to the extent that any objectivity dissolves into a polemic which needn't concern those interested in what the Macedonians themselves cared about. That said, the concurrence between Borza and the authors constantly cited against his work is incisive; so much so, that there seems to be some inconsistency among those maintaining the "Greek position" as to who is indeed their authoritative source!

It is a shame how a work of scholarship, cited by numerous scholars as a "must read" in their bibliographic notes, has lent itself to a continuing controversy, which exists in little form outside cyberspace and political spheres of interest. The author explicitly stated that it was not his intention to discuss it, and at any rate maintained an objective outlook: devoting only a few pages to the problem, yet uncompromising to opinions which he sees as evidentially fragile.

This is indeed a must read if you are interested in Macedonian history, but if your concerns lie elsewhere, this is not the book for you.

Dr.Eugene Borza, professor emeritus at the Penn State University - USA, have done a wonderfull job by publishing this fascinating book. As a revisionist, he does not concur on many important points with the few living traditionalists such as Hammond, but his views can be compared to those of Green, Badian, Danforth and the majority of modern scholars who find it rather difficult if not impossible to settle Macedonians among the Hellenic ethnos. He expresses serious doubts that the ancient Macedonians were Hellenes and corroborates his conclusions with a wealth of archaeological and linguistical arguments.
However his aim in the book is not to confirm or deny the alleged Hellenism of Macedonians which view dates from the middle 19-th century. His job is to trace the emergence of the Macedonian state,power and culture through detailed analysis of the events and processes spaning several centuries. There lies the real value of the book. His deep knowledge of the subject is undeniable and that fact just increases the verisimilitudiness of the book. I strongly recomend this nice scholarly text.

Eugene Borza is one of the leading revisionists of the history of ancient Macedonia. That is why Greek ultra - nationalists and Greek nazi - fashists are attacking this wonderfull, unbiassed and consequently objective piece of scholar work. Actually, there are very few important historians left that backing up the thesis of the putative Hellenic origins of the ancient Macedonians.
This out of date thesis has its roots in the 19-th century german historical school. This school of thought was politically motivated to create an artificial justification for the ambitions of Otto I of Bavaria, (the German king of Greece:1830 -1860) and his German-Danish successors to enlarge Greece to the north. Of course, Greece (with a little help of its friends) managed to realize that during the Balkan wars (1912 -1913) and did a classical ethnical cleansing to the majority of Macedonian inhabitants, afterwards. The empty houses of Macedonians were inhabited by the newcomers from Asia Minor. Today, those people represent themselfs as real Macedonians, although their ancestors settled there only 80 years ago.
Mostly during the second half of the 20-th century the thesis of the Hellenic roots of the ancient Macedonians has been completelly discarted many times by a number of important scholars. So, from that point of view, Borza's work is not new.
However, Borza has a unique ability to take the evidence as a whole, cut it to the tiniest details and synthetise them again in a convincing and thrilling argumentation. That is why I strongly recommend this book to everyone interested in the ancient Balkan history.

Eugene Borza indeed deserves the title "Macedonian Specialist". This book, reconstructing the history of Macedonia before Alexander the Great, and the conditions contributing to the rise of the Macedonian power, is incredibly well written. Borza pays special attention to the ethnicity of the ancient Macedonians whom he argumentatively proves, are distinct nation, which have left a mark in the world history under their ethnic name. He takes detailed look at the writings of ancient Greek writers Herodotus and Thucydides, who did not consider the Macedonians as Greeks, in order to examine the historical events and the personalities of all Macedonian Kings from Amyntas I to Philip II, and their strong sense of separate ethnic identity.

Borza puts a strong dose of criticism for the modern literature regarding the ancient Macedonians, particularly of the works by N.G.L. Hammond and the Modern Greek writers, whom Borza corrects on many matters, especially on the issue of the ethnicity of the ancient Macedonians. Borza cuts through the ancient myths, analyzes the religion and language of the Macedonians, brings the archeological discoveries into light, applying professionalism,, ancient facts, and common sense to arrive at his conclusions. The book is a must for every person interested in Macedonian studies, history, geography, anthropology, and ethnicity.

There are a great many books about Alexander the Great, his conquests, and his successors. I have always been more intrigued by Alexander's father, Philip II, and his predecessors all the way back to the first recorded kings of Macedon.

This book addresses the second topic - the emergence of Macedon until Alexander - in a thorough, critical manner.

Borza is exceptionally skeptical of the established traditions in Macedonian history. But as a careful historian, he gives voice to all opinions on each topic or event under consideration (esp. Hammond, with whom he often vigorously but respectfully disagrees - he is also often dismissive of Herodotus). The result is a well-documented, thorough, yet engaging account of early Macedonian history.

The serious student of Macedonian history should of course look at other points of view - I have not read Hammond, which seems to be a serious omission on my part as he appears to be an expert on the Macedonians - but I can heartily recommend the English translation of Errington's History of Macedonia, for an alternate, more traditional, perspective.

I thought this a good read. As a student of history I can see how the old Greek guard would dismiss it. If the findings were not accurate - it would be hard to fathom the 100's of books by Greek authors or by government sponsors denying the authors claims.

An excellent book, even though it was written 20 years ago. As he was writing it, he had the foresight to recognise that new and exciting discoveries were happening or would certainly happen that could not be included in the original text. An appendix in the paperback addition does briefly discuss the known ones then..

Besides being a fair and balanced historian, he acknowledges the contemporary conflict with sadness and regret that it so interferes with the search for the truth. As can be seen by the one star reviews here..just sad. I recommend this book highly to anyone truly interested in the history of the ancient Macedonians.

A must read.

Dispels many of the falsehoods propogated by the Greek government concerning the ancient kingdom of Macedon.

Here is Borza to put light on the real truth about Macedonia and Macedonians,and to help Macedonian minority in Greece in the battle for basic civil rights

The Book came brand new. or I could not tell if it was used or not. So the visual experiance was excelent, but I am sure that the reading will surpass that.

Excelent buy