The Rise and Fall of Classical Greece

by Josiah Ober

Book Overview

A major new history of classical Greece--how it rose, how it fell, and what we can learn from it

Lord Byron described Greece as great, fallen, and immortal, a characterization more apt than he knew. Through most of its long history, Greece was poor. But in the classical era, Greece was densely populated and highly urbanized. Many surprisingly healthy Greeks lived in remarkably big houses and worked for high wages at specialized occupations...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 069114091X
• ISBN13: 9780691140919
• Release Date: May 2015
• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Length: 448 Pages
• Weight: 1.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 6.4" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

Very well written & informative

Book was very well put together - a lot of time was very clearly put into the sequence and structure. Although Ober is clearly an advocate for the Greek era, and specifically Athens, he does give good insight on other Poleis such as Sparta, Syracuse, Thebes, Macedon, etc. The book mostly centers on political and economic areas that allowed the era and specific locales to rise and fall. It’s a very focused and informative book that’s Actually very interesting to compare to our situation today. Only reason for 4 stars, there were moments I felt the book was repetitive but it’s well made up for in other areas.