A Brief History of Cyprus

by Tommy Clark

An overview of Cypriot history from the powerful empires that first inhabited the island to the 20th Century tug-of-war between Britain, Greece and Turkey. Forensically examining the actions and motives of key players in the story, ‘A Brief History of Cyprus’ provides a broad account from ancient times to the present day, creating a clear picture of the events that led to a land still divided by a Green Line.

Genres: History

136 pages, Paperback

Published August 1, 2020

Reviews

[Tijen Beard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Would highly recommend this book if you are looking to learn a little bit more about the complex history of Cyprus, a country which is still very much divided to this day. Very interesting and informative

[Koray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kısa ve açıklayıcı bir çalışma olmuş yazarı kutluyorum. Makarios çok değerli bir adammış. Kitaptan anladığıma göre Grivas'la yaşadığı ihtilaf ve ona karşı koyması adamı gözümde epey bir yüceltti doğrusu. Yakın zamanda Kuzey Kıbrıs Türk Cumhuriyeti ve güneydeki Rum kesiminin federal bir yapı altında birleşebileceğini düşünüyorum; çünkü jeopolitik parametreler toplumları bu yöne sevk edebilir. Özellikle Ukrayna savaşı ve güneydeki çatışmalar burada bir Türk Rum çatışmasına izin vermiyor. Zoraki bir birleşmenin kapıda olduğunu düşünüyorum.

[Jenny Schauroth · Rating 1 out of 5]

The author does not present the full story, I guess that is the problem with writing a 'brief history' about something so complex as the ongoing Cyprus conflict. There seems to be a bias towards one side of the story, this book does not tell the true and whole story.

[Andrew Stone · Rating 3 out of 5]

Useful as an overview of ancient and medieval Cyprus under waves of colonial occupation. A few typos - most noticeably the statement that the Byzantines deported the (apparently very premature) Muslims from the island in the 1st century AD. But more problematic is the presentation of the modern age. While the British face some criticism they get off quite lightly for their well-worn strategy of divide and rule, but the Turkish state gets a completely free ride. Even the invasion of 1974 is presented as an entirely benign defensive 'intervention'. While atrocities by the Greek Cypriots and Greece are recounted - as they should be, and fascists such as Grivas in particular deserve all the venom they get - the violence and avarice of the Turkish invasion is completely skirted over.
Not without its uses but ultimately disappointingly partisan.

[Andrew Docherty · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had high hopes for the book when reading the title, and being an avid researcher of the Cyprus issue since a child I thought it might add some new nuances to what I know already - sadly, this edition is clearly a very biased, overwhelmingly sympathetic and exaggerated account of some events and actions (in favour of the Turkish Cypriots), with some things that literally just did not happen. Even more sadly, there are almost no opposing accounts of things that happened in the views of Greek Cypriots demonstrating more that the author has a clear unconscious bias - which begs the question, why has the author had the gall to call this a history of Cyprus? I am disturbed this was allowed to be published. I welcome a discussion with the author to explain this book.

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good introduction to the Cyprus problems. Well written and succinct. Real eye opener to what happened and how things progressed.

[Simon Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

VALIDE

[Rose · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was looking for a history of Cyprus, and this was one of the few books I could easily get hold of. I'm glad someone decided to write a brief history, as there's a surprising lack of books on Cyprus given that it's been in the middle of the know world for most of Western history.

I did have a few issues with the book though. My first complaint was that the description promised that it would cover the whole history of the island, from the earliest Ancient sources available. While this is technically true, the book is heavily weighted towards modern history. Everything up to about 1940 is covered in the first 30 pages, so essentially it's a book on modern Cypriot history with older history providing background/ an introduction.

My second issue (which is more of a personal one) was the style of the writing. It's written so as to avoid offering any obvious opinion or bias, instead just reporting on events. I know some people prefer history to be treated like this. I don't, because everyone has some kind of bias or opinion. If you've read hundreds of articles, books and papers about events that happened over the course of decades, and are condensing all that knowledge into a short book, much of what you could include must be left out, and those decisions are a kind of bias. I'd rather a writer was open about their thoughts, opinions and judgements so I can understand why they made the choices they did, rather than having to second-guess what the writer was thinking when they chose certain examples over others.

The third (and most minor) issue is just one of editing/proof reading. It's all small things, like the odd typo, or jarring phrases that don't feel quite like they belong among the rest of the text. The only time it really proved a problem was when a date was mentioned, and the text continued discussing the same time period across section breaks and chapter changes, without re-establishing the date/time period being discussed. It made it a bit hard to follow at times.

While the complaints above probably seem a lot more negative than the 3 stars I've given it suggest. While I had some issues with the book, I respect the project. I'd like to read more about the history. A short book like this inevitably couldn't offer much detail on certain events, and it'd be nice to read about it all on a book with the space to delve into things more.

[Pranav · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is short but dense laying tons of information on the reader in a clear, concise, and engaging manner. I summarized the information I gleaned from the book that I found engaging.

Cyprus Changing Hands Timeline
* Part of Assyrian empire (earliest known record)
* Conquered by Alexander The Great
* Became part of Ptolemaic Egypt after Alexander The Great's death
* Annexed by Rome
* Given to Cleopatra as a gift
* Given back to the Roman's after Cleopatra's death
* Becomes part of the Greek speaking Byzantine empire
* Conquered by Richard I king of England
* Sold to the Templars by Richard I
* Given back to Richard I by templars who couldn't contain the native revolts
* Sold to a french knight (de Lusignan) by Richard I
* Became a Tributary to the Mamluks after a battle (still controlled by de Lusignan family)
* Sold to Republic of Venice in 1468 after being linked to Venice in marriage
* Invaded by Ottoman's who held sympathy for the persecuted Byzantine Greek Orthodox population
* Turks cede the administration of the island to the British but still keep it as a military base

Cyprus Becomes "Greek"
* During world war I there is a rising Greek nationalism among the orthodox population and interest in eonisis (unified with Greece)

Genocides and Conflict With Turks
Won't go through all of this but the gist is that there were two guys - Georgios Grivas, and Makarios. They headed a terrorist organization called EOKA and repeatedly conducted bombings, murders, recruited child soldiers, and conducted raids on the Turkish cypriots often murdering women and children in brutal raids. These raids lasted from the 1940's until the 1980's. Multiple decades of attempted ethnic cleansing. The western powers prevented Turkey from intervening while Turkish cypriots begged for an intervention for decades as they were routinely murdered, prosecuted, and pushed into slums.

Turkish Intervention
Finally in 1974, fearing that the Turkish population in Cyprus would be eradicated completely, Turkey launched a military operation in Cyprus, divided the island into two borders, and aided in the establishment of a TNRC (Turkish Northern Republic of Cyprus).

Modern Day Status
Island is divided into two countries. Southern half is a recognized country while the Northern half is riddled with embargos and trade restrictions.

[Kaden Luther · Rating 2 out of 5]

A brief history indeed. A more aptly named title is “A Brief History of Ancient Cyprus, followed by a more in depth explanation of Cypriot struggles in which we only discuss Greek atrocities and completely gloss over British, American, and Turkish evils.” It does a great job at outlining the travesties carried out by the greeks and even of the relation of the Greek Military Junta and not much else. It is not even remotely unbiased, and leaves so much out as a consequence of this, which discredits it immensely. Clark does fine at describing what he writes about, despite an immense quantity of typos and grammatical errors, but should be ashamed in the fact he, as a historian, does not present a fair picture.

[Мартин Маринов · Rating 2 out of 5]

A compelling, but unfortunately biased book that portraits the Greek Cypriots in an overly negative light.

[Stathis · Rating 2 out of 5]

starts ok but becomes quickly becomes very biased on the represenation of the island's modern hisotry.