"For many, 'Greece' is synonymous with 'ancient Greece, ' the civilization that gave us much that defines Western culture today. But how did Greece come to be so powerfully attached to the legacy of the ancients in the first place and then define an identity for itself that is at once Greek and modern? This book reveals the remarkable achievement, during the last three hundred years, of building a modern nation on the ruins of a vanished civilization--sometimes literally so. This is the story of the Greek nation-state but also, and more fundamentally, of the collective identity that goes with it. It is not only a history of events and high politics; it is also a history of culture, of the arts, of people, and of ideas"--Back cover.

Roderick Beaton is Emeritus Koraes Professor of Modern Greek and Byzantine History, Language and Literature at King's College London and Commander of the Order of Honour of the Hellenic Republic. He is the author or editor of multiple books, including, most recently, Byron's War: Romantic Rebellion, Greek Revolution.