We think we know ancient Greece, the civilisation that shares the same name and gave us just about everything that defines 'western' culture today, in the arts, sciences, social sciences and politics. Yet, as Greece has been brought under repeated scrutiny during the financial crises that have convulsed the country since 2010, worldwide coverage has revealed just how poorly we grasp the modern nation. This book sets out to understand the modern Greeks on their own terms.\nHow did Greece come to be so powerfully attached to the legacy of the ancients in the first place, and then define an identity for themselves that is at once Greek and modern? This book reveals the remarkable achievement, during the last 300 years, of building a modern nation on, sometimes literally, the ruins of a vanished civilisation. This is the story of the Greek nation-state but also, and perhaps more fundamentally, of the collective identity that goes with it. It is not only a history of events and high politics, it is also a history of culture, of the arts, of people and of ideas.

Greece: Biography of a Modern Nation

History

Beaton, Roderick

Ancient Civilizations

Penguin

A readable introduction to Greek poetry and fiction published since national independence in 1821, this is the first full-length study to be devoted to the literature of this period, seen as a whole, and including developments up to the present day. Highlighting those writers and works which have enjoyed critical or popular acclaim, it emphasizes the relationships which link one work with another and with its historical context. No knowledge of Greek is assumed and all quotations are given both in Greek and in English. An Introduction to Modern Greek Literature will be an important source for both specialists and general readers, bringing to light a rich but neglected part of modern European literature.

An Introduction to Modern Greek Literature

Literature & Fiction

British & Irish

Oxford University Press

This is a fully revised edition of Beaton's acclaimed 1994 introduction to the poetry and fiction published in Greece since national independence since 1821. It is the first full-length study to be devoted to the literature of this period seen as a whole and including developments up to the present day. No knowledge of Greek is assumed and all quotations are given both in Greek and in English.

History & Criticism

Clarendon Press

We know ancient Greece, the civilization that shares the same name and gave us much that defines Western culture today. Yet, as financial crises have convulsed Greece repeatedly since 2010, worldwide coverage has revealed just how poorly we grasp the modern nation. This book sets out to understand the modern Greeks on their own terms. How did Greece come to be so powerfully attached to the legacy of the ancients in the first place and then define an identity for itself that is at once Greek and modern? This book reveals the remarkable achievement, during the last three hundred years, of building a modern nation on the ruins of a vanished civilization—sometimes literally so. This is the story of the Greek nation-state but also, and more fundamentally, of the collective identity that goes with it. It is not only a history of events and high politics; it is also a history of culture, of the arts, of people, and of ideas. Opening with the birth of the Greek nation-state, which emerged from encounters between Christian Europe and the Ottoman Empire, Roderick Beaton carries his story into the present moment and Greece’s contentious post-recession relationship with the rest of the European Union. Through close examination of how Greeks have understood their shared identity, Beaton reveals a centuries-old tension over the Greek sense of self. How does Greece illuminate the difference between a geographically bounded state and the shared history and culture that make up a nation? A magisterial look at the development of a national identity through history, Greece: Biography of a Modern Nation is singular in its approach. By treating modern Greece as a biographical subject, a living entity in its own right, Beaton encourages us to take a fresh look at a people and culture long celebrated for their past, even as they strive to build a future as part of the modern West.

University of Chicago Press

We think we know ancient Greece, the civilisation that shares the same name and gave us just about everything that defines 'western' culture today, in the arts, sciences, social sciences and politics. Yet, as Greece has been brought under repeated scrutiny during the financial crises that have convulsed the country since 2010, worldwide coverage has revealed just how poorly we grasp the modern nation. This book sets out to understand the modern Greeks on their own terms.How did Greece come to be so powerfully attached to the legacy of the ancients in the first place, and then define an identity for themselves that is at once Greek and modern This book reveals the remarkable achievement, during the last 300 years, of building a modern nation on, sometimes literally, the ruins of a vanished civilisation. This is the story of the Greek nation-state but also, and perhaps more fundamentally, of the collective identity that goes with it. It is not only a history of events and high politics, it is also a history of culture, of the arts, of people and of ideas.

Greece

Europe

Allen Lane (an Imprint of Penguin Books)

Ariadne's children

Weidenfeld&Nicolson

Poet, essayist, diarist, novelist, and diplomat, George Seferis brought about a revolution in the way people viewed his native Greece. Acclaimed for his thought-provoking lyric poetry, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1963. At the same time, he rose in the diplomatic corps to the position of Ambassador to Britain. This elegantly written book-the first full biography of Seferis-provides insights into his work, life, and country. Roderick Beaton, an acknowledged authority on modern Greek literature and culture, draws on previously unknown sources to tell Seferis's story. He describes how Seferis occupied key diplomatic positions during periods of historic crisis before, during, and after World War II. He explores Seferis's service as Ambassador to London at a time when Greece and Great Britain were disputing the future of Cyprus, noting that some of Seferis's finest poetry was written about that troubled island. He analyzes Seferis's literary production and his impact on Lawrence Durrell, Henry Miller, and other British and American writers. Exploring the interplay between poet and diplomat, public and private, and poetry and politics in Seferis's life and career, this book will fascinate anyone interested in twentieth-century Greek literature, culture, or history.

George Seferis: Waiting for the Angel, A Biography

Biographies & Memoirs

Arts & Literature

Yale University Press

The first biography in any language of one of the world’s greatest modernist poets Poet, essayist, diarist, novelist, and diplomat, George Seferis brought about a revolution in the way people viewed his native Greece. Acclaimed for his thought-provoking lyric poetry, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1963. At the same time, he rose in the diplomatic corps to the position of Ambassador to Britain. This elegantly written book—the first full biography of Seferis—provides insights into his work, life, and country. Roderick Beaton, an acknowledged authority on modern Greek literature and culture, draws on previously unknown sources to tell Seferis’s story. He describes how Seferis occupied key diplomatic positions during periods of historic crisis before, during, and after World War II. He explores Seferis’s service as Ambassador to London at a time when Greece and Great Britain were disputing the future of Cyprus, noting that some of Seferis’s finest poetry was written about that troubled island. He analyzes Seferis’s literary production and his impact on Lawrence Durrell, Henry Miller, and other British and American writers. Exploring the interplay between poet and diplomat, public and private, and poetry and politics in Seferis’s life and career, this book will fascinate anyone interested in twentieth-century Greek literature, culture, or history.

George Seferis: Waiting for the Angel: A Biography

An obsession with his excavation at Ano Meri, an ancient Cretan palace, and problems that destroy the dig's international reputation drive a wedge between archaeologist Lionel Richardson and his family

Ariadne's Children

Romance

Historical

St Martins Pr

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Beaton, Roderick. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Beaton, Roderick

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Beaton, Roderick. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Greece: Biography of a Modern Nation

An Introduction to Modern Greek Literature

An Introduction to Modern Greek Literature

Greece: Biography of a Modern Nation

Greece: Biography of a Modern Nation

Greece

Ariadne's children

George Seferis: Waiting for the Angel, A Biography

George Seferis: Waiting for the Angel: A Biography

Ariadne's Children