Lords of the Sea: The Triumph and Tragedy of Ancient Athens - Rilegato

John R. Hale

Rilegato

ISBN 10: 1906142637 ISBN 13: 9781906142636

Casa editrice: Gibson Square Books Ltd, 2010

Riassunto

'I cannot tune a harp or play a lyre, but I know how to make a small city great.' Themistocles After almost three thousand years, the brilliant achievements of ancient Athens - the philosophy of Plato, the birth of modern democracy, architecture and theatre - continue to tower over modern culture. Lords of the Sea seeks to write the first modern biography of this extraordinary ancient city from a dramatic new angle - the sea. How did a humble, unremarkable fishing village turn itself into a dazzling democratic empire fuelled by silver, intellect, sheer cunning, sophisticated rowing power, and blood shed during heroic battles, to become the most intrepid free superpower the world has ever known? Lords of the Sea brings together the impressive modern scholarly knowledge of ancient Athens. Its narrative relies on ancient literature (the histories, plays, speeches, poetry, inscriptions), the latest archaeological discoveries (bronze rams, ship houses and docks, naval monuments), first-hand study of every important theatre of war, and insight into a society that was one of the few in history to grant extreme sexual license to free adult males. Famous names, such as Themistocles, Pericles, Socrates, the treacherous Alcibiades, Thucydides, Sophocles, Euripides, Plato and Aristotle, appear in vividly-drawn portraits as the Athenians themselves would have seen and judged them at the time. The dramatic rise, decline and fall of ancient Athens is much more than a gripping historical tale. Lords of the Sea shows that it is one of the first struggles of everything that makes the human race potentially great.

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Recensione:

'Thrilling... Hale excels in enlivening the details... at once instructive and exciting to go to sea with Hale.' Frederic Raphael, Mail on Sunday, 4-star review

'Confident, energetic... unfurls like a sail.' The Times

'Thoroughly readable.' Peter Jay, Spectator

'Beautifully written... evocative, sometimes magnificent... a masterpiece.' Prof. Brian Fagan Current World Archaeology

'A tour de force of historical imagination.' Adam Nicolson

'To provide a new angle from which to view and understand the experience of the Athenians of the classical age is a remarkable achievement...' Utterly captivating. Donald Kagan --1

'Greek history from the rowing bench... the face and very more than that of ancient naval battle.' Paul Cartledge, Professor of Classics, Cambridge, Literary Review --1

'To provide a new angle from which to view and understand the experience of the Athenians of the classical age is a remarkable achievement... Utterly captivating.' Donald Kagan --1

L'autore:

John R. Hale received his Ph.D. in archaeology from Cambridge University (researching Viking longships), after studying archaeology at Yale University. He was a field archaeologist at the University of Nottingham excavations at Dragonby, and subsequently embarked on a distinguished career in classical marine archaeology that has included maritime and underwater research in projects on the coast of Portugal and in the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean. He is currently an archaeologist at the University at Louisville and has appeared in documentaries broadcast by The Discovery Channel and the History Channel.

Su questa edizione

• Editore: Gibson Square Books Ltd
• Data di pubblicazione: 2010
• ISBN 10: 1906142637
• ISBN 13: 9781906142636
• Rilegatura: Copertina rigida
• Numero edizione: 1
• Numero di pagine: 400