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The Crown of Violet
Adventure Story of Ancient Athens
Hardcover
Published January 1, 1952
35 people want to read
About the author
Geoffrey Trease
174 books25 followersRobert Geoffrey Trease (1909-1998) was a prolific writer, publishing 113 books between 1934 (Bows Against the Barons) and 1997 (Cloak for a Spy). His work has been translated into 20 languages. His grandfather was a historian, and was one of the main influences towards Trease's work.
He is best known for writing children's historical novels, whose content reflects his insistence on historically correct backgrounds, which he meticulously researched. However, with his ground-breaking study Tales Out of School (1949), he was also a pioneer of the idea that children's literature should be a serious subject for study and debate. When he began his career, his radical viewpoint was a change from the conventional and often jingoistic tone of most children's literature of the time, and he was one of the first authors who deliberately set out to appeal to both boys and girls and to feature strong leading characters of both sexes.
He is best known for writing children's historical novels, whose content reflects his insistence on historically correct backgrounds, which he meticulously researched. However, with his ground-breaking study Tales Out of School (1949), he was also a pioneer of the idea that children's literature should be a serious subject for study and debate. When he began his career, his radical viewpoint was a change from the conventional and often jingoistic tone of most children's literature of the time, and he was one of the first authors who deliberately set out to appeal to both boys and girls and to feature strong leading characters of both sexes.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
November 27, 2019
Re-read 11/26/19: See below. I got to thinking about Mrs. Simone the other day and realized I couldn't remember the name of the school she'd taught at. Naturally, since this book is a relic of that school's library, it had the name stamped all over the inside flyleaf. And then, since I had the book in hand, I felt compelled to read it again. It made a nice complement to all the Mary Stewart books set in Greece I've read lately. (Roxboro Road Middle School in Syracuse, NY, if you were wondering.)
Read 5/22/13: I had my first literary criticism class when I was twelve. Children's Literature, taught by Mrs. Simone, who loved children's books and loved to teach children how to read critically. Our great reward, twice that year, was to be allowed into the library's discarded book room to choose a lost book of our very own. For someone who until that point had a library composed mostly of books from the Scholastic catalog, this was such a thrill: old books--you know the smell--that had been read and loved until they almost fell apart. Web of Traitors was one of the books I chose. (The other was A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, which is a whole 'nother review.) I still own it, tattered, spine coming away from the pages, a souvenir from those faraway days.
As I read the book again for the first time in, I think, twenty-five years, I'm astonished at how much of history it introduced me to. This is where I read about Socrates for the first time, learned the Athenian love of theater for the first time, even the first time I read about code making and breaking. It gave me the most romantic notions about Athens that were never fully dispelled even when I learned that its famed democracy only applied to men.
Alexis, fighting against his father's expectations for him, wants not to challenge Athenian tradition but to follow a different path. Of course, he does end up challenging both tradition and morals in listening to that gadfly Socrates, let alone by associating with a common girl like Corinna. And, also of course, he and he friends thwart the planned invasion and Alexis succeeds at writing a play which is performed at the Theater Festival. This is, after all, a suspense novel for young adults. But it's a thrill to think of being able to write a play that competes successfully with those written not just by adults, but by experienced adults.
Corinna, unexpectedly cultured for a girl whose mother keeps an inn, was one of my first feminist examples from literature. Not only is she clever, she also performs a daring act of espionage that puts her body on the line AND rescues Alexis when he's caught by the traitors. I admired her daring, even as I now as an older reader recognize that Trease was cheating a little by making her so unnaturally cultured despite her upbringing. He engages in a little classism by suggesting that . Her friendship with Alexis isn't spoiled by any romantic notions, though I imagine you could extend the story by suggesting that Corinna, at the end, is someone Alexis's hidebound father might at some point find acceptable for his middle son. But that's not important to this story.
I re-read this because I was looking for fiction about Athens that wasn't about its wars with Sparta. There is remarkably little in that vein, which makes this book even more unique. I have no idea what I saw in it that made me pick it--a book that hadn't been checked on since 1967, a book that had sat abandoned on the shelf for another 17 years--but I am certainly glad that I did.
Read 5/22/13: I had my first literary criticism class when I was twelve. Children's Literature, taught by Mrs. Simone, who loved children's books and loved to teach children how to read critically. Our great reward, twice that year, was to be allowed into the library's discarded book room to choose a lost book of our very own. For someone who until that point had a library composed mostly of books from the Scholastic catalog, this was such a thrill: old books--you know the smell--that had been read and loved until they almost fell apart. Web of Traitors was one of the books I chose. (The other was A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, which is a whole 'nother review.) I still own it, tattered, spine coming away from the pages, a souvenir from those faraway days.
As I read the book again for the first time in, I think, twenty-five years, I'm astonished at how much of history it introduced me to. This is where I read about Socrates for the first time, learned the Athenian love of theater for the first time, even the first time I read about code making and breaking. It gave me the most romantic notions about Athens that were never fully dispelled even when I learned that its famed democracy only applied to men.
Alexis, fighting against his father's expectations for him, wants not to challenge Athenian tradition but to follow a different path. Of course, he does end up challenging both tradition and morals in listening to that gadfly Socrates, let alone by associating with a common girl like Corinna. And, also of course, he and he friends thwart the planned invasion and Alexis succeeds at writing a play which is performed at the Theater Festival. This is, after all, a suspense novel for young adults. But it's a thrill to think of being able to write a play that competes successfully with those written not just by adults, but by experienced adults.
Corinna, unexpectedly cultured for a girl whose mother keeps an inn, was one of my first feminist examples from literature. Not only is she clever, she also performs a daring act of espionage that puts her body on the line AND rescues Alexis when he's caught by the traitors. I admired her daring, even as I now as an older reader recognize that Trease was cheating a little by making her so unnaturally cultured despite her upbringing. He engages in a little classism by suggesting that . Her friendship with Alexis isn't spoiled by any romantic notions, though I imagine you could extend the story by suggesting that Corinna, at the end, is someone Alexis's hidebound father might at some point find acceptable for his middle son. But that's not important to this story.
I re-read this because I was looking for fiction about Athens that wasn't about its wars with Sparta. There is remarkably little in that vein, which makes this book even more unique. I have no idea what I saw in it that made me pick it--a book that hadn't been checked on since 1967, a book that had sat abandoned on the shelf for another 17 years--but I am certainly glad that I did.
September 4, 2022
Fun book! Intrigue, mystery, and action with some of the most famous people in Ancient Athens making appearances. A surprise twist at the ending rounded out an all together enjoyable read.
August 2, 2023
Solid historical novel. I enjoyed the book as a pleasure read, but it also hit all things that tie into our study of classical Athens.
June 24, 2025
I absolutely loved this book when I read for the first time in the 7th grade, and since then I've read like three times. Alex and Corina are so fun together!
July 2, 2025
A delight!
January 19, 2018
Love this book.
We meet Socrates and get a little taste of his personality and philosophy. We get a feel for Athens and how Athenians viewed outsiders and women.
Alexis is the main character. He is a teen boy who writes a play and has to trick people into producing it. Get a feel for how theatre worked.
Dog named Argos (after faithful dog in Odyssey)
Dad is always saying “If Pericles were alive…”
Family spends a day watching plays
Euripedes tragedies in am
Aristophenes comedies in pm
Pages 73 and 74 Great discussion about uses of oratory (can be manipulative)
Play by Sophocles
Meets Xenophon and Plato
Alcibiades
We meet Socrates and get a little taste of his personality and philosophy. We get a feel for Athens and how Athenians viewed outsiders and women.
Alexis is the main character. He is a teen boy who writes a play and has to trick people into producing it. Get a feel for how theatre worked.
Dog named Argos (after faithful dog in Odyssey)
Dad is always saying “If Pericles were alive…”
Family spends a day watching plays
Euripedes tragedies in am
Aristophenes comedies in pm
Pages 73 and 74 Great discussion about uses of oratory (can be manipulative)
Play by Sophocles
Meets Xenophon and Plato
Alcibiades
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews