Half a century after the civil war which tore apart Greek society in the 1940s, the essays in this volume look back to examine the crisis. They bring a new comparative approach to the study of the Greek Civil War and establish the sometimes obscure links between Greek and European historical developments in the 1940s. They also highlight the complexity and interconnections of the social, economic and political cleavages that split Greek society, and provide a comprehensive and subtle understanding of the origins, course and impact of the Greek Civil War in a variety of contexts and levels. Combining the approaches of political and international history with the latest research into the social, economic, religious, cultural, ideological and literary aspects of the struggle, and underpinned by the use of a wide range of hitherto neglected sources, The Greek Civil War broadens the scope of the enquiry, and offers fresh analysis.

Dr Philip Carabott is Cyprus Hellenic Foundation Lecturer in Modern Greek History in the Department of Byzantine & Modern Greek Studies, King's College London, UK. Dr Thanasis D. Sfikas is Assistant Professor of Contemporary Greek History in the Department of History and Archaeology, University of Ioannina, Greece.

Contents: Fifty years on, Philip Carabott and Thanasis D. Sfikas; Part I Comparative and international perspectives: The Greek civil war: Greek exceptionalism or mirror of a European civil war?, Martin Conway; What was the problem in Greece? A comparative and contextual view of the national problems in the Spanish, Yugoslav and Greek civil wars of 1936-49, Philip B. Minehan; The Cominform and the Greek civil war, 1947-9, Ionna Papathanasiou. Part II Politics and economics: A prime minister for all time: Themistoklis Sofoulis from premiership to opposition to premiership, 1945-9, Thanasis D. Sfikas; Struggling from abroad: Greek communist activities in France during the Greek civil war, Nicolas Manitakis; Getting Greece 'working again': the London Agreement of January 1946, Athanasios Lykogiannis. Part III Communism and the culture of anticommunism: Becoming communist: political prisoners as a subject during the Greek civil war, Polymeris Voglis; Orthodoxy in the service of anticommunism: the religious organization Zoë during the Greek civil war, Vasilios N. Makrides; Social dimensions of anticommunism in northern Greece, 1945-50, Basil C. Gounaris. Part IV Testimonies and representations of the civil war: The everyday lives and silences of a national army soldier and his wife during the Greek civil war, Philip Carabott; Pyramid 67: a liminal testimony on the Greek civil war, Maria Nikolopoulou; The shadow of the Greek civil war in the poetry of Takis Sinopoulos, David Ricks; Writing silences: Manolis Anagnostakis and the Greek civil war, Liana Theodoratou. Part V Epilogue: The road to reconciliation? The Greek civil war and the politics of memory in the 1980s, David Close; Index.