A Brief History of Ancient Greece: Politics, Society, and Culture (Paperback)

~ (Author), Stanley M. Burstein (Author), Walter Donlan (Author), Jennifer Tolbert Roberts (Author) "The most charismatic cultural hero of the ancient Greeks was Odysseus, a man who "saw the towns of many men and learned their minds, and..." (more)
Key Phrases: paramount basileus, ten strategoi, companion cavalry, Peloponnesian War, New York, Dark Age (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

The story of the ancient Greeks is one of the most improbable success stories in world history. A small people inhabiting a country poor in resources and divided into hundreds of quarreling states created one of the most remarkable civilizations. Comprehensive and balanced, A Brief History of Ancient Greece: Politics, Society, and Culture is a new and shorter version of the authors' highly successful Ancient Greece: A Political, Social, and Cultural History (OUP, 1998). Four leading authorities on the classical world offer a lively and up-to-date account of Greek civilization and history in all its complexity and variety, covering the entire period from the Bronze Age through the Hellenistic Era, and integrating the most recent research in archaeology, comparative anthropology, and social history. They show how the early Greeks borrowed from their neighbors but eventually developed a distinctive culture all their own, one that was marked by astonishing creativity, versatility, and resilience. The authors go on to trace the complex and surprising evolution of Greek civilization to its eventual dissolution as it merged with a variety of other cultures. Using physical evidence from archaeology, the written testimony of literary texts and inscriptions, and anthropological models based on comparative studies, this compact volume provides an account of the Greek world that is thoughtful and sophisticated yet accessible to students and general readers with little or no knowledge of Greece.

Ideal for courses in Greek Civilization and Ancient Greece, A Brief History of Ancient Greece offers:
A more streamlined treatment of political and military history than Ancient Greece
Emphasis on social and domestic life, art and architecture, literature, and philosophy
Expanded coverage of women and family life, religion, and athletics
A new section on male homosexuality in ancient Greece
A revised art program featuring more than 100 illustrations and 17 original maps
Numerous "document boxes" that include primary source material

About the Author

Sarah B. Pomeroy is at Hunter College and CUNY Graduate Center. Stanley M. Burstein is at California State University, Los Angeles. Walter Donlan is at University of California, Irvine. Jennifer Tolbert Roberts is at City College and CUNY Graduate Center.

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (January 15, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195156811
• ISBN-13: 978-0195156812
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #455,986 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great for an overview, June 26, 2009

By	Kolya Krasotkin - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Brief History of Ancient Greece: Politics, Society and Culture (Paperback)

This book's principle virtue is that it is short, but complete. It gives a good sense of the larger trends in Greek history; it is especially good at showing how changes in society relate to the "big" dates and political events. Greek history emerges as an interconnected process, instead of "one thing after another."

Each chapter has a really thoughtfully compiled bibliography. These bibliographical lists are not comprehensive; they are a reliable guide to readable, high quality material that fleshes out, and complicates some of the ideas advanced in the text. Any reader, from layperson to an expert in some aspect of the ancient world can count on these lists to point them to consistently rewarding further reading, and this in my opinion is much more useful than a guide to detailed scholarly arguments about the dating of a single group of potsherds. I got this book when I was quite pressed for time, but the short chapters left me ample time to explore the rich works suggested in the bibliographies.

The book is also refreshingly free of old-fashioned unqualified assertions about the "triumph" of Greek civilization. Ancient Greece is explored as a territory and a culture in its own right, and not merely as the beginnings of some vague "Western Civilization".

0 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Presents history in an easy to read way, September 29, 2008

By	J. K. Jones (Bozeman, MT USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I bought this book for History of Ancient Greece. Unlike some boring history texts, it is quick reading and easy to understand.

5 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars As Far as Greek Texts go this one is greart!, September 11, 2005

By	Jonathan W. Panofsky "Book Lover713" (Philadelphia, PA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Ok I love this text. I used this and its sister text on Romans for my ancient history classes. I find that the only down fall of this particular text is that Pomeroy tends to push her agenda in the beginning. However as far as texts on Greek History go, this is the best.