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Ancient Greece: A Very Short Introduction takes the polis as its starting point and uses the history of eleven major Greek cities to illuminate the most important and informative themes in Ancient Greek history, from the first documented use of the Greek language in around 1400 bce, through the glories of the Classical and Hellenistic periods, to the foundation of the Byzantine empire in around ce 330. Ancient Greek civilization was defined by the city, the polis, from which we derive ‘politics’. It is above all this feature of Greek civilization that has formed its most enduring legacy, spawning such key terms as aristocracy, oligarchy, tyranny, and — last but by no means least — democracy.Less

The Trojan War: A Very Short Introduction investigates two major questions: did the Trojan War take place and, if so, where? This VSI suggests that, although a Trojan War (or wars) probably did take place, it was fought for economic and political reasons. This formed the nucleus for the story that was eventually recorded by Homer. In addition to Homer, this VSI examines other treatments of the story from classical times. It also surveys the archaeological attempts to document the Trojan War through excavations at Hissarlik, Turkey, especially the work of Heinrich Schliemann and his successors.Less