Regular marked price: $15.95Discount Price: $10.85
Cost Savings: $5.10 (32%)Price fluctuation possible.
How soon does it ship: Normal ship time within one day
Shipping? Absolutely FREE if you qualify for Super Saver Shipping.
Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 938
EAN num: 9780300084931
ISBN number: 0300084935
Label: Yale University Press
Manufacturer: Yale University Press
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 276
Printing Date: August 11, 2000
Publishing house: Yale University Press
Sale Popularity Level: 136998
Studio: Yale University Press
Other books you might be interested in perusing:
Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
This compact, comprehensive and illustrated history of ancient Greece takes us from the Stone Age roots of Greek civilisation to the early Hellenistic period following the death of Alexander the Great. Thomas Martin begins with a prehistory of late Stone Age activity that provides background for the conditions of later Greek life. He then describes the civilizations of the Minoans on the island of Crete and of their successors, the Mycanaeans, on the mainland; the Greek Dark Age and the Archaic Age; the Classical Age of Greece in the fifth and fourth centuries B.C.; the transformation of the kingdom of Macedonia into the greatest power in the Greek world; and the period after the death of Alexander the Great in 323 B.C., when monarchies emerging from Alexander's fragmented empire once again came to dominate Greek history. The narrative integrates political, military, social and cultural history, with a focus on the development of the Greek city-state in the eighth to fourth centuries B.C. and on the society, literature and architecture of Athens in its Golden Age.
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers 
-
It baffles me the good reviews on this book as in the very first chapter, the words, "PERHAPS, COULD BE and MAYBE" are how the writer writes about history he states, "we just do not know".
Then Mr. Martin continues on in succeeding chapters to inform the Greeks that they do not know their own history as Dorians, who are spoken of, had their own language, invaded Greece, "do not exist".
This is beyond the dumbing down of America, this is the complete moronic view of history! If Mr. Martin does not know about the subject then he should not be writing about the subject nor should others be leaving feedback that this waste of trees for paper is anything but 1 star.
For the record, to prove I know the subject, one only has to look at the "Phoenicians" whom Mr. Martin does mention, but never correlates that this "lumping of peoples" details the facts and archeology found in the Bible.
The invasions of Greece and subsequent changing of character to one of MILITARY KINGS, ELDERS and ELECTED OFFICIALS mirrors exactly the traditions found in the Israelite nations, which include the very first Republican form of government which so many people like Mr. Martin refer to "democracy" which is not people rule but MOB RULE.
The key line in this Biblical connection is "every man did what was right in his own eyes as there was no king in Israel". That is individual voting rights at it's genesis.
Furthermore ancient sources factually connect the time of Greek upheaval to the period when Assyria conquered the Israelite kingdom of the north which contained the seafaring people of the Danites.
This tribe of Dan had 2 groups. One exiled in ships touching on many coastal areas to Ireland with the Lebanese (Phoenicians) where they were called the Tuatha de Danaan or Tribe of Dan. Today they can be found in Denmark which means Mark of Dan.
Jewish scholars have long pointed out that Dan spent time in Greece and that the Benjamites were sojourners there. Many have eluded to the fact that the Spartans who practiced homosexuality and are termed "Dorian invaders" by the Greeks are in fact the ancient base of Spartans.
This is where Mr. Martin also comes up with the most heinous of disgusting conclusions when he speaks of Spartans taking children from their parents as boys to live in military camps with older males. Mr. Martin then lists the activities which included "physical love". THERE IS ANOTHER NAME FOR THAT ON WORLD LAW BOOKS AND IT IS CALLED CHILD MOLESTATION.
Yes Mr. Martin terms pedophiles a "physical love".
How on this planet Yale which published this book and others who give this book publication and glowing accounts is beyond the pale of morality.
Check it out, PAGE 78; LINE 18.
Mr. Martin also concludes that the making of metal artifacts for war and agriculture was due to everyone wanted them for prestige and NEVER CONCLUDES ONE HAS METAL DUE TO THE FACT IT IS A MUCH BETTER IMPLEMENT THAN ROCKS OR FLINT.
This is the absolute nonsense found in this book which beyond boring. This book is the dumbing down of professorship in the United States and our academia should be ashamed to put something like this out.
This book is so surpassed by the original Greeks in their writings and for example the book, The Tribes by Yair Davidy has more Greek information in passing WHICH IS ACCURATE that people should not waste time nor money on this nonsense.
I paid 30 cents for the hardcover and that was 30 cents too much.
One does not author books nor go to schools to hear, "might be, could be, probably or I don't know" nor does one want conclusions that people had plows because they were pretty and everyone had them.
I can not strongly enough not recommend people buying this book. If it would not cost more to send the letter for a refund to Yale, I would be demanding a refund from them as this was not history nor even a discussion. This was pure uninformed scribbling.
If this is the product of American secondary education at billions of dollars just turn out the lights and give the people beer money as this book inspires no thought nor reaches a discerning mind.
It is a pure void of information and morality.
Rated by buyers 
-
Thomas Martin's book "Ancient Greece" is an absolutely fantastic book if you're interested in getting an overview of ancient Greece, how it started and progressed and why people are interested in studying about it. At just over 200 pages of text, Martin somehow manages to cover a huge amount of information, yet keep it extremely interesting. The only shortcoming is that in my paperback edition the pictures are all crummy grey and white and grainy. Additionally, all the images are grouped together, so the images aren't there when you read the associated section in the text.
I'm not sure where you are coming from, but I had just read the Odyssey and the Iliad and wanted an overview in order to understand these texts better as well as snoop around for other texts to read. Mission accomplished, Herodotus' "Histories" and then Hesiod's "Works and Days", staying clear of Thucydides because it just seems too difficult to read.
Included in the text, as the book begins, is a description of the geographic characteristics of Greece and how that led to the development of individual, strong Greek city-states. Additionally, we hear about the Minoan and Mycenaean civilizations. The Hellenistic period, which occurs after Alexander the Great unified much of the old Persian Empire (and probably more) with the Greek "homeland" seems like it gets short shrift compared with the Classical or Golden eras, though you get just enough information to a) get excited about those areas and b) get leads for other areas to investigate.
Rated by buyers -
There are certainly no shortage of history books dealing with the Greeks but Professor Martin's book deserves special notice. He knows just the right balance of detail and readability that actually makes reading history compelling and engrossing. In short, the author gets to the point faster and better than any other author of the subject that I've read and this makes the experience of reading the book through much less difficult than one might expect for a history text. Whenever I have a question about ancient Greek history this is the text I pick up first. A superb book - Highly recommended.
Rated by buyers -
If you don't know much about ancient Greek history or culture, this is the best short book I know of. On every page, in every sentence, the author gets straight to the point, with no fancy obfuscations, assuming no prior knowledge. I've never seen a better organized history of ancient Greece. Besides that, I strongly approve of the map selection and the timelines. He gives just enough depth to be a solid introduction--just a little bit more than "what you're supposed to know."
Some teachers I know prefer a book titled "Ancient Greece" written by a team of authors led by Sarah Pomeroy. It has just a bit more depth than this book, but it isn't nearly as well written. It seems that they wanted it to be easily comprehensible, but I'm not sure they succeeded. It does have the advantage of a little more depth, but if you're reading for pleasure, I recommend this one rather than that one.
It is, though, only an introduction; that's the obvious downside of being short. You might want more information about the culture: more excerpts from the poets, the thoughts of the philosophers described in more detail, more plates (or plates in color) about the art. Actually the book is amply illustrated in grey and white. But of course a book dedicated to Greek culture would have better information on any of these aspects, and that would be a book worth reading. This one serves only as an introduction. I strongly recommend reading the Norton Critical Editions of the Iliad and Odyssey, Hesiod, a couple famous tragedies (in my opinion, Euripides' Medea is the one to read first), and a few of Plato's more famous dialogues. THAT is an introduction; but if that's the kind of thing you intend to do, this book will be a great place to start.
On the historical/political/social matters, this book is again a great introduction, but only an introduction. If you want more detailed information, especially a look at the reasons historians believe such and such happened, I very strongly recommend John V. A. Fine's "The Ancient Greeks," one of the very best history books I've ever read. Of course it's a lot longer, but it's worth it. Once again, if you're reading for pleasure, I recommend this one first, and then Fine's book, which is a bit harder to follow.
If you want to read about Greek religion, I would once again start here; but then you should read the classic, Walter Burkert's book, and follow it up with Jan Bremmer's book, both titled "Greek Religion."
Of course, why not a little cheerleading for learning about ancient Greece? Since the Renaissance and even more since the Victorian era, anyone in the West who would call themselves educated has had to have basic knowledge of ancient Greece. They were certainly very influential on Western culture, and via Bactria even had some considerable influence on East Asia.
I've found that Greek history somehow arouses more curiousity in students than modern European or American history. I think it's because of the nature of the ancient Greeks themselves, because they reflected on human nature via their own history, so as we study ancient Greece, we get to reflect on the nature of power, why governments take forms such as aristocracies or democracies or monarchies, why wars are won or lost, why empires rise and fall, how much blood and misery flow through history, and so on. Students don't merely have to memorize lists of events and prepared ideas, but they get to reflect about life, why the world is the way it is, for themselves. And that is what most people, young or old, are all about.
Rated by buyers -
This is the book that aroused my interest in ancient Greek history. I've read a lot of general histories, and most are tough to endure. Not this one. Filled with helpful chronolgical charts, maps, organized headings, and clear and succinct prose -- this book conveys the ancient Greek experience in a little over 200 pages.
Trust me, if you want to begin your study of the ancient Greeks (or reinforce and give context to what you already know about the Greeks) read this book.
Find other books like this one:
