29 – Ch 7, pt 12-14

J. B. Bury wrote his “History of Greece” before World War I, but it was such a good overview of classical Greek history that the third edition was still being used as a college textbook in the late 1960′s.

In the newer editions, a co-author rewrote the material dealing with the early centuries where there have been new archeological developments, but the later chapters and Bury’s framework were retained essentially unchanged. Bury writes in a lucid, easily understood style that entertains as it educates. The book covers artistic and literary development, as well as politics and war, and its field of view includes western Asia Minor, the Agean archipelago, and “Greater Greece” (Sicily and Southern Italy). (Summary by Karen Merline)