Books - The Rough Guide to Greece - page 801

BOOKS FOR KIDS
The Greek myths and legends are perfect holiday reading for kids; they're available in a huge
number of versions aimed at all ages, often lavishly illustrated.
Terry Deary Groovy Greeks; Greek Tales and the Fire
Thief trilogy. The first of these is from Deary's familiar
Horrible Histories series; the three books of Greek Tales
take a sideways look at famous myths; the Fire Thief is a
comedy-fantasy series based on Prometheus, who stole
fire from the gods.
Caroline Lawrence The Roman Mysteries . The final two
volumes of this authentically detailed series of Roman-
era mystery books for 8- to 11-year-olds, The Colossus of
Rhodes and Fugitive from Corinth , are set in Greece.
Mary Renault The King Must Die ; The Last of the Wine ;
The Masks of Apollo ; The Praise Singer ; The Alexander

Trilogy . The style may be a tad dense and dated, but
these retellings of great Greek stories remain classics of
historical fiction.
Rick Riordan Percy Jackson series. A modern setting
infused with Greek mythology as Percy Jackson, twelve
years old and dyslexic, discovers he is the modern-day
son of a Greek god. Gripping, best-selling tales.
Franzcesca Simon Helping Hercules. Fans of Horrid
Henry will enjoy this clever retelling of Greek myths by
the same author, where young heroine Susan sorts out
the not-so-heroic heroes.

old. The basis of a play, and the eponymous Theodhorakis
oratorio.
Ì Mark Mazower Inside Hitler's Greece: The Experience
of Occupation 1941-44 . Eccentrically organized, but the
scholarship is top-drawer and the photos magnificent.
Demonstrates how the utter demoralization of the country
and incompetence of conventional politicians led to the
rise of ELAS and the onset of civil war.
Ì Eddie Myers Greek Entanglement (o/p). The inside

story of sabotaging the Gorgopotamos viaduct by the
British brigadier who led it, and lots else about
co-ordinating the resistance from 1942 to 1944. Myers
comes across as being under no illusions about the various
Greek guerrillas he dealt with.
Ì C.M. Woodhouse The Struggle for Greece, 1941-49 .
Masterly, well-illustrated account of the so-called “three
rounds” of resistance and rebellion, and how Greece
emerged without a communist government.

ART AND ARCHEOLOGY
A.R. and Mary Burn The Living Past of Greece: A Time
Traveller's Tour of Historic and Prehistoric Places (o/p). This
wide-ranging guide covers sites from Minoan through to
Byzantine and Frankish, with good clear plans and lively text.
Mary Beard The Parthenon . Compelling, readable
reassessment of the building, both in terms of its real purpose
and the possible meaning of its relief sculptures, in light of the
discoveries made during its ongoing reconstruction.
John Boardman Greek Art . An evergreen study in the
World of Art series, first published in 1964. For more
detailed treatment, there are three period volumes entitled
Greek Sculpture : Archaic Period, Classical Period and The Late
Classical Period .
Paul Hetherington Byzantine and Medieval Greece:

Churches, Castles and Art of the Mainland and Peloponnese
(o/p). A gazetteer of all major mainland sites - readable,
authoritative and with useful plans. His more recent The
Greek Islands: Guide to Byzantine and Medieval Buildings
and their Art , is equally good, with more illustrations,
though there are some peculiar omissions.
Reynold Higgins Minoan and Mycenaean Art . Concise,
well-illustrated round-up of the culture of Mycenae, Crete
and the Cyclades, again part of the World of Art series.
R.R.R. Smith Hellenistic Sculpture . Appraisal of the art of
Greece under Alexander and his successors; yet another
World of Art title.
James Witley The Archaeology of Ancient Greece . An
excellent overview of current scholarship, not overly academic.

PEOPLE AND CULTURE
Ì Bruce Clark Twice a Stranger: How Mass Expulsion
Forged Modern Greece and Turkey. The build-up to and
execution of the 1923 population exchanges, and how both
countries are still digesting the experience eight-plus
decades on. Compassionate and readable, especially the
encounters with elderly refugees and oral histories.
Rae Dalven The Jews of Ioannina . History and culture of
the thriving pre-Holocaust community, related by the
poet-translator of Cavafy, herself an Epirot Jew.

Renée Hirschon Heirs of the Greek Catastrophe: the Social
Life of Asia Minor Refugees in Piraeus . Wherein a district in
Kokkinia maintained a separate identity for three
generations after 1923. It's inevitably nostalgic, as
increasing wealth has largely dissolved the community, but
helps explain why Athens is so higgledy-piggledy.
Ì Gail Holst Road to Rembetika: Music of a Greek
Subculture . The most intriguing Greek urban musical style
of the past century, evocatively traced by a Cornell