Introducing the Ancient Greeks - Tapa dura

"Terrifically good" (Natalie Haynes Observer)

"[Hall] provides a thoroughly readable and illuminating account of this fascinating people... This excellent book makes us admire and like the ancient Greeks equally" (John Davie Independent)

"A worthy and lively introduction to one of the two groups of ancient peoples who really formed the western world" (Christopher Hart Sunday Times)

"This new tome serves as a fantastic general introduction" (Big Issue)

"Edith Hall has a brilliant ability to intellectually analyse the Greeks... because of deep, searching curiosity, and her sense of how this culture reflects upon our moment now. Her writing is so clear and accessible... full of complex reflections and revelations" (Ian Rickson)

"Wide-ranging and endlessly fascinating... It is a fitting tribute to history that ought to be preserved... because it would, at the very least, enrich our conversation and range of comparison with events today" (Daisy Dunn Standpoint)

"This crisp little book is also worth reading for Hall’s elegant prose" (Suzi Feay Financial Times)

"Throughout, Hall exemplifies her subjects’ spirit of inquiry, their originality and their open-mindedness... And in doing that...she reminds us of how civilizing and humanizing a study of the ancients can be" (Daily Telegraph)

"A fascinating read, delightfully illustrated with unusual and exquisite drawings" (Michael Scott BBC History Magazine)

"Groundbreaking ... acutely identifies and brilliantly explores ten defining qualities that together explain why we simply cannot do without the ancient Greeks" (Professor Paul Cartledge, University of Cambridge)

Who were the ancient Greeks? They gave us democracy, philosophy, poetry, rational science, the joke. But what was it that enabled them to achieve so much?

The ancient Greeks were a geographically disparate people whose civilization lasted over twenty centuries – and that made us who we are today. And here Edith Hall gives us a revelatory way of viewing this scattered people, identifying ten unique personality traits that she shows to be unique and central to the widespread ancient Greeks.

Hall introduces a people who are inquisitive, articulate and open-minded but also rebellious, individualistic, competitive and hedonistic. They prize excellence above all things but love to laugh. And, central to their identity, they are seafarers whose relationship with the sea underpins every aspect of their society.

Expertly researched and elegantly told, this indispensable introduction unveils a civilization of incomparable richness and a people of astounding complexity.