Jonathan M. HallA History of the Archaic Greek World, ca. 1200-479 BCE

We all learnt history at school and the history of Ancient Greece is an integral part of the curriculum in Europe and perhaps in some other parts of the world too. You meet it in primary school and then at secondary school because you have to understand the roots of democracy and of European civilisation to make sense of our era. You might have a feeling that you already know enough. But do you? No. If you take this book into your hands and start reading it turns out that you do not know too much about either the archaic Greek world or, what is more, history: in Chapter 1 the key question "What is History?" pops up after the author shows you an obvious pitfall when someone tries to assemble the pieces from different literary sources ranging from Hesiod to Plutarch. I asked a few of my acquaintances but no one had a well-informed or well-thought-over answer, obviously, we do not spend too much thought on it and therefore are not prepared to answer this seemingly simple question. However, this is the fundamental question in history as your relationship to history depends on your answer and on the answer the historian who writes a book gives to it.As it turns out, what a nine or fourteen years old student is usually taught under the title "History" is mostly a bunch of anecdotal stories from the pens of authors who lived centuries after the actual events. On the other hand, archeology is not that reliable source either, partly because not everything leaves material traces behind and, secondly, only a small fraction of those which do is uncovered or matched with the appropriate historical context.This book is great in showing the reader how the data available to the historian is insufficient to support certainties in most aspects of archaic Greek life and events and sometimes the careful analysis suggests a different most probable interpretation from the widely accepted one. The further back we look into the murky waters of time, the more common it is to be left with probabilities and trends, and uncertainties and doubts, than with facts and truths. The author does more than teaching history, he helps you learn to think in the historian way.

I am currently writing a dissertation that requires my constantly referring to the primary and secondary sources of Greek political history. Over and over again, I have returned to this book, because of both its comprehensiveness, presentation of primary source texts in "windows" or tables that contribute much to the author's arguments in each section and lastly, the author's unsurpassed excellence in presenting all the sides to each issue in highly readable form. Until today, I had been using my university's library copy...but, decided today that this is a book well worth having in my own possession, as I will likely be referring to it several more times in the years to come.

Hall establishes and completes a specific task: presenting contemporary developments in the discipline of history and their relevance to his niche of expertise, archaic Greece. The book is not only an introduction to the period; it is also an introduction to historical research. This approach has its uses. Readers get to witness the Chicago style, come to understand the importance of historical sources and the variety of evidence present in ancient history, and get a feel for the presence of dispute and uncertainty that is critical to history. This is a book about evidence, not facts.The method also creates a few problems. First, it doesn't present a chronological view of the period, though with archaic Greece this can't be done anyways. Second, Hall loves to reference secondary sources in the text, which are really useless to his target audience. College freshmen aren't going to bother reading these. I would recommend is reading Hall in conjunction with another history, one centered on a timeline.

Since I'm interested in the Greeks of Sicily and Magna Graecia I was not disappointed in the coverage Jonathan Hall gave this book. Many histories in the past failed to give the 'Western Greeks' their proper due. Otherwise, the book is a great compilation of the history, archaeology, laws, civil wars, politics, and culture of a people that were to become arguably the greatest civilization of the ancient world. The work is wonderfully researched and documented.

Great condition

For those interested in the development of the classic Greek age, well worth your time. We had the opportunity to tour part of the ancient Greek world with the author which only underscored the quality of his work in combining archaeology and history to provide better insight into what lead to the classical Greek period.

Un livre bien fait qui contentera le lecteur averti comme le néophyte.

Jonathan Hall has not written a traditional history of the Archaic Greek world. It challenges narrative historical approaches in favour of a thematic approach to the important elements of Archaic Greece - "colonization", the emergence of the <i>polis</i>, warfare* - in fact, he challenges several narrative or "historical" events. Particularly prominent is the Lelantine War, deconstructed completely in the first seven pages of the book so that one can hardly understand how certain scholars maintain their belief in it; in the final chapter of the book he turns to the First Sacred War, in which he has perhaps more faith, but certainly not as it is described in later texts. One must wonder, however, how he can deconstruct these wars, but not apply the same methodological considerations to the Messenian Wars - clearly, to me, a construction of the Messenians after their independence from Sparta in the fourth century, the original war invented to explain how they came to be subjugated in the first place.It is certainly a <i>Greek</i> history, too. This book is not for those looking for Etruscan or Phoenician interactions with Greece, for local responses to "colonization"**. Hall would argue that this is because it is a <i>history</i>, rather than an <i>archaeology</i>, and that it is only the Greeks for whom we have (semi-)reliable historical accounts in the Archaic period; indeed, in the last pages of the book he does so. If an archaeological account of such developments is what you are after, The Making of the Middle Sea: A History of the Mediterranean from the Beginning to the Emergence of the Classical World is perhaps a better bet.The chronological bounds of this book might seem a bit long; Hall argues well and I agree that there is no significant break between the collapse of the Mycenaean palaces and the Archaic period as it is usually defined. As an archaeologist specializing in the Early Iron Age I do feel that he neglects to discuss very much of this period, but that is probably just my own prejudices getting in the way.This book is certainly recommended to historians; as a general read it may not be what the layperson expects. But I do think that it would be good for non-academics to see this side of history, highly readable, largely sceptical, but still <i>history</i>, as it should be written.* Personally, I disagree quite strongly with a lot of what Hall has to say about warfare. I think it's a shame that his sceptical approach to certain elements of the Greek world does not permeate every aspect. Perhaps it is the fault of the editors?** "Colonization" should always be in inverted commas when discussing the Greeks or the Phoenicians, to distinguish the process from Roman <i>colonia</i> or the British Empire; but this is not the place to discuss the intricate details of the so-called colonial period of early Greek history.

This book covers the important Archaic period in much greater depth than most books on Greek history. It is very well-written and enjoyable to read, an important characteristic for an undergraduate text. It is organized by topics, covering everything from the fall of the Bronze Age Palaces to the rise of Athens to the Battle of Marathon. I highly recommend it.

Superb, however not for the casual reader it is certainly not popular history rather a much more academic textbook aimed at individuals wanting to study the overview of the Archaic period of Greek history in more depth.

This book is chronologically the first of a series of monographs planned eventually to tackle classical and byzaninte history from the collapse of Mycenaean civilisation to the fall fo Consrnatinople in 1453c.e.As a monograph rather than a multi-authored book it has a pleasing internal consistency. This first volume has to rely quite heavily on archaeological evidence, which means a straightforward narrative through the centuries is virtually impossible. Like many such books, its most likely audience is undergraduates, but it also a useful book to have to hand for more experienced scholars who may need to seek information outside their specialist field. This book serves both purposes admirably. Bibliographies are offered for each chapter- though so much work is coming out these days that only on-line bibliographieis can hope to be comprehensive.