The Shortest History of Greece: The Odyssey of a Nation from Myth to Modernity

How has Greece shaped the world we live in today, and what can we learn from its history?

Philosophy,  art, democracy, language, even computers—our world has been shaped by  the products of Greek civilization. Yet most of us know little about a  people and a place that have contributed so much to our way of life.  Pericles and the Parthenon may be familiar, but what of Epaminondas, the  Theban general who saved the Greek world from Spartan tyranny?  Alexander the Great’s fame has rolled down the centuries, but the  glorious Hellenistic Age that came after him is largely forgotten.  “Byzantine” often conjures a vague notion of decadence and deadly  intrigue, yet the thousand-year empire ruled from Constantinople saved  Europe twice from invasion and was, in fact, Greek.

The story of  modern Greece, too, is a dramatic tale of triumph and catastrophe, from  liberation and expansion through schism and home-grown dictatorship,  Nazi occupation, and civil war to today’s nation—battered by austerity, a  transit camp for the casualties of the Middle East, at the front line  of climate change—yet still proud of its values.

In The Shortest  History of Greece, James Heneage charts the odyssey of the Greeks  through more than three millennia. As he does so, he uncovers a vital  lesson—one that may just help us fix our own democracies.