Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience

Fantastic book about the Greeks, if your looking for a starting point to reading about The Greeks this is a brilliant place to start!!

I love Greece and its rich and wonderful history, so I love see books like these available as ARCs. And though I don't always make it to them before the archive date, I do tend to go grab my own copies to come back and review. I love learning about history and so nonfiction books like this are always up my alley.

This text is great for academics or even those like me who just find Greek history fascinating. It spans quite a bit of time from the Byzantine to the present (so much change that goes on during that time!). The content is well researched and well written (even if it is a LOT to get through in one sitting).

This title may not be for everyone, but as a research tool and an interesting history read I am still going to give it 5/5 stars. Would really recommend to anyone who has a deep interest in the subject matter.

I received a free eARC from the author/publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Greeks is a brilliant academic read covering the span of around 3500 years, from the Bronze Age to present day. It is extremely detailed and meticulously researched. As a lay reader I did struggle occasionally with how dense the writing could be, but for the most part I was completely fascinated.

It took me a long time to get through, because of the sheer amount of information. It covers everything from poetry, warfare, to the response to covid-19. It is expansive.

If you have an interest in Greece and its history, this is definitely worth a read.

Whirlwind, dense tour of Greek history…

I enjoyed this detailed look at Greek history from ancient to more modern times. Given the length of the book, and the incredible amount of information to sift through, including everything would have been an impossible task. This author did, however, include interesting and diverse stories and facts that provided a wide breadth of knowledge.

Language, art, geography – just a few topics tackled in chapter-sized bites. I found the reading held my attention even as I did stop and pick it up again numerous times due to the sheer volume of information being shared.

Looking forward to making this a permanent part of my collection.

What an epic book “The Greeks” by Roderick Beaton turned out to be! I picked it up on the appeal of the cover and a reflection of late that my history lessons at school were decidedly selective and predominantly focused on what the English did and didn’t do. The Greeks, having had a massive impact on religion, culture and language, piqued my interest.

Beginning right at the beginning may seem logical but is often not the way of historical books and I so appreciated the context set in this one. The formation of what is now seen as “Greek”, it’s influences and why it came about are given an unbiased account. Equally I liked how the writer, at times, admits we don’t know before offering the current theories.

Despite being considered by some a dry topic, I found this book scintillating especially when it covered elements of how our language today was formed and elaborated on global happenings which I was unaware of. Each chapter is a chunk of time, an era for the Greeks, unpacked whilst still keeping the holistic thread. It makes them long so I found setting time to finish each section in one go helped me follow the history especially with all the unfamiliar names and places.

The book doesn’t focus on the Greece of today or the land it now covers but the history of the Greek-speaking people and where they have been and are now. It goes right through to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the refugee crisis. Better understanding the past has helped me comprehend the complexity of the those seeking asylum in Greece and why accepting the volume arriving is so challenging.

As it is the Greeks, the book is made up of artistic reflection and war strategy, massive upheaval and beautiful poetry. The contrasts are amazing and interesting, I am most grateful I read this one and if you enjoy a well-told historical overview with nuggets of interesting facts tucked in this is one for you! It’s a five out of five on the enJOYment scale.

I received a complimentary copy of the book from Perseus Books through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

While I do love Greek History, this arc was definitely a bit more on the dense side of things. That's not to say it was bad. I did enjoy the way the author painted the setting however there were times that one topic took an entire chapter to get to the point. If you like that kind of descriptive narrative then this would definitely be an enjoyable read.

(To Note: I did not read the book in its entirety but read a good amount to realize it was a bit too dense for my personal taste.)

Overall, it was not a bad summarization of 'The Greeks' but definitely not a quick read.

As a ardent reader of history, this book was a joy. It was well researched and detailed. A fabulous read for those who enjoy this genre.

It's not the first book I read bout Greek history but it's surely the most complete as it starts in the archaic times and covers a long timeframe.
I think that the best part are those covering archaic and classic Greek history. It's bit harder to follow after the Roman conquest but, my fault, it was the first time I read about those times.
It's an informative, well researched and well written book.
Not an easy read but I learned a lot.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

This well researched book is great for those who love Greek mythology rather than for those interested in learning about the Greeks themselves.
Appreciative thanks to NetGalley and publisher for allowing me to review this book.

The first thing to understand about this book is that it is not about the Greeks. The Greeks are simply a convenient opportunity to make a larger point about...global something-or-other. It's not entirely clear. He seems to be having an argument with someone who is not the readers of this book, judging from some of his defensive sentence constructions ("It's not true that...").

After reading the preface, I had high hopes, as the author gives one of the most succinct, and in my opinion accurate, definitions of what it means, and has meant historically, to be Greek: to speak Greek and to participate in the cultures (there are many) of Greek speaking people. At various times and places, there have been additional criteria, but the two constants have been speaking the language and participating in (one of) the cultures.

Beaton's discussion of the archaic and classical ancients is quite good, again one of the better I've read. Where the book begins its steep decline is with Greek history following the Roman conquest, after which it becomes increasingly obtuse and tedious. When discussing the Roman Empire, Beaton points out how art was able to flourish because of the Roman-imposed peace...this after discussing the explosion of creative production in the 4th and 3rd centuries BC, during which the irrascible Greeks were constantly at each other's throats. The book devolves into the usual parade of "here is what the ruling class was doing," with a dash of "look how awful the Christians were" and a sprinkle of "modern Greeks only exist because the 'Great powers' took an interest in them." Yawn.

Inevitably, there is a great deal of cherry picking of evidence. We learn, of course, about the tragic, brutal murder of Hypatia (always a favorite) but nothing at all about Aelia Eudocia, the 5th century pagan Athenian philosopher's daughter who became an empress of the Eastern Roman Empire and wrote cento poems retelling the life of Christ using lines from Homer. During the middle ages, Beaton focuses on Constantinople (as if Greek-speakers were only there), especially from a governance perspective, but nothing of note about the rich artistic, scholarly, and creative works of Greek speakers and their cultural exchanges with east and west. He mentions that Greek speakers were permitted schools under the Ottomans, but neglects to specify that they were only permitted some 200 years after the conquest. Oh, and how cute is it (sarcasm alert) that he calls the Greek revolution a "war of independence." What independence? The western powers promptly installed a Bavarian boy (Otto, aged 17) as king, and the nascent Hellenic Republic became the Kingdom of Greece.

Surely, the Greeks can be enigmatic. They seem to have stood at the threshold of three continents, to have had a strong sense of self and cultural confidence while also to have been willing to learn and draw from their neighbors. This can make them hard to understand, if by "understand" you feel the need to pin them down.

If you're looking for insight into the multi-faceted nature of the Greeks and their global influence, this is not the book to find it, despite the optimistically-chosen title.

Unfortunately when I downloaded the file and tried to open it i received the message 'Cannot open file'.
Pity too as I was really excited about this book.

A wonderfully comprehensive history of the Greeks from the Bronze Age to today. Detailed, authoritative, meticulously researched, scholarly yet accessible, it can’t really be faulted. And yet it’s really one for the serious Greek aficionado rather than the general reader and you have to be in for the long-haul – with shame I admit to fast-forwarding on occasion when it all got a bit much for me. That doesn't detract, however, from it’s worth as an important resource for anyone interested in the subject, especially with its maps and illustrations, and it will no doubt prove an invaluable and long-lasting reference book.

I liked The Greeks. The book has so many facts, a thing that might overwhelm a general reader. if you like Greek history and/or mythology it's the perfect book to read or to give as a gift.

I have a fascination with Greek history and culture. This book teaches you about Greek history all the way from 1500 BCE to 2021. It is really interesting to learn about and I would recommend The Greeks to anyone interested in Greek history and pure facts. However it could be slightly dense for someone who doesn’t know much about Greek history and it could be overwhelming but for me it was Brilliant.

This is a really great book for Greek history and mythology lovers. The material can be kind of dense and difficult to follow but overall the book is really great.

Arc provided by Netgalley for an honest review.

This was a vey detailed history of Greece from 1500BC to the modern age. I really enjoyed all the intricate maps that were included on in and they visually explained to us how much Greece has evolved over the years.

I would recommend this to anyone who is a fan of Greek history or would like to learn about Greek history, just know ahead of time that like many history books that span so many years, <i>The Greeks</i> did get dry at some parts.

Date(s) read: 07/26/2021

This was an absolutely fascinating survey in Greek history. Often we only ever hear about the eras of Greek history broken up into separate segments. Thankfully Beaton has been able to craft a wonderful narrative in which the history of Greece is connected through time and space from antiquity to the modern age. I would highly recommend this book to those looking for a unique history of Greece.

The Greeks by Roderick Beaton was a wonderful read. This book is perfect for Greek history and mythology lovers and enthusiasts. This is a thorough and dense Greek history from the Bronze Age to today.

The book reads like a history book and can be difficult for some to follow, but I found the maps/ illustrations helpful.

This nonfiction book is truly a very detailed history of Greece from 1500BC to present day (2021)z. I chose this book as I hope to visit Greece next year and wanted to learn all that I can about its history and how it has influenced society over the years. Besides the very complete and detailed information, there are various maps that are relevant to each time period to show how Greece has evolved over time. Very much like a history book one would read for a college history course, I found it to be a bit too dry for my purposes but could be a great resource to have and absorb a bit over time.
Many thanks to #netgalley to be able to read and review this book.