A History of Ancient Greece

This is a major, single-volume introduction to the whole of Ancient Greek History. It covers the period from the Golden Age of Knossos and Mycenae to the incorporation of Greece into the Roman empire in the second century BC. The book combines narrative and socio-economic history to cover all regions of Greece, including territories on the edge of the Greek and Hellenistic worlds, as well as the traditional centres such as Athens and Sparta.A History of Ancient Greece provides students with an accessible history of the region, combining accounts of the major events with in-depth analyses of the underlying issues. The book is designed explicitly for student use and contains numerous pedagogic features including summaries of key issues, balanced accounts of controversial points, useful discussions of Greek institutions, chronologies and a glossary.

Table of Contents:
Foreword. A Country. 1. The Greek World's Earliest Times: The Bronze Age. The Iron Age. 2. The Archaic World: The Birth Of Civic Communities. Emigration And The New Cities. The Forms Of Power. The Peoples And Cities Of Greece: An Impressionistic Picture. An Aristocratic Culture. 3. The Classical Period: The Fifth Century: New Institutions In Athens. Greeks And Persians. Hegemony And Democracy. Relations Between The Cities: Wars And Truces. A Democratic Culture. Society And The Economy In The Classical Period. Polytheism And Religious Life. 4. The Classical Period: The Fourth Century: The End Of Classical Hegemonies. The Age Of Eloquence. The Macedonian Peace: From One Common Peace Into Another (355-336). Alexander The Great. The Failure of The Macedonian Peace (323-281). 5. The Hellenistic Period: The Balance Of Power: A World At War (281-220): A World At Peace. The End Of Greek History. Conclusion. The Sources. Bibliography. Chronological Table. Lexicon. Illustrations. Maps.

About the Author :
The late Claude Orrieux's was Professor at the University of Caen. His previous publications include Judaism-Hellenism (1986) and Investigations on the Hellenistic Armies (1987). Pauline Schmitt-Pantel's is Professor at the University of Picardie Jules Verne. Her previous publications in English include A History of Women in the West: From Ancient Goddesses to Christian Saints (editor, 1992) and Religion in the Ancient Greek City (co-author, 1993).

Review :
"This will make an excellent textbook. Everyone teaching Greek history complains constantly of the lack of a good book. This one has a good balance of narrative and social/economic history. It's also unusual in trying to cover all areas of Greece, not just Athens and Sparta. I should add that I've read a couple of other Greek history textbooks in preparation for other publishers in the last couple of years, and this book is head-and-shoulders above the rest. It's a really good book." Ian Morris, Stanford University " ... presents both an elegant narrative and an interesting assessment of the Hellenistic world" Greece and Rome ..". innovative ... While the traditional 'glories' of Greek history - the classical period, the history of Athens - are excellently handled, this is not at the expense of less frequently covered terrain." Times Higher Education Supplement