"A polished and informative work that will be useful for general readers and students."

--Daniel Tompkins, Temple University

"A highly readable account of ancient Greece, particularly useful as an introductory or review text for the student or the general reader."

--Kirkus Reviews

"Students using Perseus . . . will be glad to have Martin's reasonably priced book."

--Peter Krentz, Religious Studies Review

"This is a superb introduction to the Greek world for beginning students, precise and stimulating without overwhelming students with too many details. Its integration with the Perseus program makes it highly advantageous as a textbook."

--David Graf, University of Miami

Yale University Press Web Site, October, 2001

This compact, comprehensive, and generously illustrated history of ancient Greece takes us from the Stone Age roots of Greek civilization to the early Hellenistic period following the death of Alexander the Great.

Designed for nonspecialist readers, it will be a welcome and needed resource for all who wish to learn about this important subject.

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 Mycenaeans, 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.

The book, which includes useful timelines, maps, plans, and photographs, was adapted from and may be cross-referenced with the historical overview of Greece that is part of the multimedia interactive database Perseus: Interactive Sources and Studies on Ancient Greece, versions 1.0 and 2.0. The book extends the coverage of the Perseus overview, with its new sections on Greek prehistory, the Bronze and Dark Ages, and the Hellenistic period.