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The Mirror of Antiquity: 20th Century British Travellers in Greece
Author: David Wills
Date Of Publication: Sep 2007
Isbn13: 9781847182678
Isbn: 1-84718-267-4
During the last century, writers as diverse as William Golding, Henry Miller, Lawrence Durrell, Evelyn Waugh, Virginia Woolf, and Laurie Lee, were captivated by Greece. They were joined in their production of travel accounts by hundreds of lesser-known authors. This book exposes how the responses of travellers were conditioned by much more than their own opinions and personalities. The British education system, classical scholarship, and the heroism demonstrated by the Greeks during the Nazi invasion of their country, all contributed to shaping travel narratives. The author analyses the way in which all of the major archaeological sites were described—including the Athenian Acropolis, Delphi, Olympia, Heinrich Schliemann’s Mycenae, and Sir Arthur Evans’ Knossos in Crete. The representation of the modern Greek people, particularly in the period after the Second World War, is also explored at length. Viewed as relics of the past, the Greeks in literature were given the qualities and appearance of their ancestors. David Wills shows how in the hands of twentieth century travel writers, Greece became less a modern country, and more a mirror of antiquity. This book is essential reading for all who are interested in the history of travel and tourism, reception of the classical past, and recent Greek history.
David Wills studied ancient history and archaeology at University College London and Wolfson College, Cambridge. He received his PhD from the University of Surrey Roehampton in 2003. His work has been published in several academic journals and he is a member of the Standing Committee on Modern Greek in the Universities.
"This is a very useful book. I'm very glad that such a useful analysis as this will be published rather than lurking in academic form only. It will be a real contribution to the field."
Dr Christopher Stray, University of Wales, Swansea. "An amazingly comprehensive and engaging survey of British accounts of Greece." Dr Michael A. Morse, University of Oxford. Foreword by David Holton, Professor of Modern Greek, University of Cambridge. “....a welcome not only to the research on travel literature about the region but also to the broader issue of the role of Greece in British culture … Wills’ method is scholarly, his research meticulous and the material collected fascinating.” Efterpi Mitsi, University of Athens, Studies in Travel Writing, volume 30, issue 3, September 2009
Price Uk Gbp: 29.99
Price Us Usd: 44.99
Sample pdf (including Table of Contents)
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