The Greek Achievement: The Foundation of the Western World

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Allen Lane, 1999 - History - 494 pages
"In this book, Charles Freeman sets out to provide a new generation of readers with a comprehensive and accessible account of Greek history over two thousand years. A powerful sense of a society of human beings at times astonishingly similar to ourselves, at others strikingly different, makes The Greek Achievement constantly surprising and stimulating." "Drawing on the most recent research, Freeman describes the early settlements, wars with the Persian empire, the confidence - even arrogance - that created the grandeurs of Periclean Athens, the rise of Macedonia, the glories of the often despised Hellenistic period and the crucial influence of Greece on the Roman Empire. Interwoven with the narrative are chapters on social and spiritual life, on philosophy, drama, mathematics and science which demonstrate that it is no exaggeration to say, in Freeman's words, that Ancient Greece provided 'the chromosomes of Western civilization.'"--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

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Contents

Recreating the World of Ancient Greece
1
The Formation of the Greek World
21
Heroes and the Coming of the CityState
43
Copyright

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