Grecii o istorie globală

Roderick Beaton tells the story of peoples who speak Greek. It spans close to four thousand years. He shows how they helped shape life in the West. He looks beyond Greece, at Greek groups on five continents. This wide view of the past helps readers grasp Greece today.

The book starts with Bronze Age finds in the Aegean. It also looks at Minoan culture. It explores myths of gods and heroes. It then turns to Athens and Sparta. Beaton follows the wars that Alexander the Great fought. He traces the rise of Christianity. He covers the Byzantine Empire, which lasted a thousand years. He shows how interest in classical ideas grew once more. He follows this through the Renaissance and Enlightenment. He brings the story up to politics in today’s European Union.

The alphabet, philosophy and science all play key parts. So do the ways Greeks faced great change and disaster. Beaton shows how they found new ways to survive. He also shows how they shaped other societies.

The book draws on his long career in Greek studies. He is professor emeritus at King’s College London. He holds the Koraes chair. He studies modern and Byzantine Greek history, language and literature. He has won the Runciman Prize four times. His work has made the Duff Cooper and Cundill prize shortlists. He is a member of the British Academy. Greece has named him Commander of the Order of Honour.

Livia Szasz translated this edition from English. Its original title is The Greeks: A Global History.