The Greek Revolution: 1821 and the Making of Modern Europe

Books

"As Mark Mazower shows us in his enthralling and definitive new history, myths about the Greek War of Independence outpaced the facts from the very beginning, and for good reason. This was an unlikely cause, against long odds, a ragtag collection of Greek patriots up against what was still one of the most formidable empires in the world, the Ottomans. The revolutionaries needed all the help they could get. And they got it as Europeans and Americans embraced the idea that the heirs to ancient Greece, the wellspring of Western civilization, were fighting for their freedom against the proverbial Eastern despot, the Turkish sultan. This was Christianity versus Islam, now given urgency by new ideas about the nation-state, and democracy, that were shaking up the old order. Lord Byron is only the most famous of the combatants who went to Greece to fight and die-many more followed events passionately and supported the cause through art, music, and humanitarian aid. To many who did go, it was a rude awakening to ...