Pericles and Athens

by Andrew Robert Burn

hardcover

220 pages, Unknown Binding

Published January 1, 1966

Reviews

[MH · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written in 1948, this is very much a history of its time - no citations but a thin bibliography, an expectation that the reader is familiar with dozens of Greek generals and statesmen, and about half the book is a listing of civil uprisings, rebellions, and border territories changing hands - a catalog of Greek islands and colonies for which a map would have been extremely helpful. But Burn is an exceptional writer - he has a wry, dry wit, he makes connections between the (often unsourced) materials he works with, and he does a beautiful job bringing some elements of this period to life. When he speculates on Pericles the man or Athenian society, it's a fantastic book - but for me, there's a lot of eye-glazing work to get there.