The United States and the Making of Modern Greece: History and Power, 1950-1974

by James Edward Miller

Focusing on one of the most dramatic and controversial periods in modern Greek history and in the history of the Cold War, James Edward Miller provides the first study to employ a wide range of international archives—American, Greek, English, and French—together with foreign language publications to shed light on the role the United States played in Greece between the termination of its civil war in 1949 and Turkey's 1974 invasion of Cyprus.Miller demonstrates how U.S. officials sought, over a period of twenty-five years, to cultivate Greece as a strategic Cold War ally in order to check the spread of Soviet influence. The United States supported Greece's government through large-scale military aid, major investment of capital, and intermittent efforts to reform the political system. Miller examines the ways in which American and Greek officials cooperated in—and struggled over—the political future and the modernization of the country. Throughout, he evaluates th

Genres: History, Greece

320 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Nik · Rating 2 out of 5]

Miller’s study, contrary to the book description on Goodreads, is a heavily one-sided description / analysis of three of Greece’s most tumultuous decades, which coincidentally kicked off just as Greece entered the sphere of influence of the US. Rather than present a balanced analysis of the developments that culminated in the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974, Miller whitewashes US and UK actions that turned out to be disastrous for the region, goes to great lengths to portray the Greeks as a backwards, conniving bunch stuck in their nationalist ways (a tone he sets at the very beginning of the book using anecdotal quotes on the Greeks by European politicians of the 19th century), and shows an abysmal understanding of the history of Greece (his analysis of the warring factions in Greece during WW2 would be laughable if its implications were not so dire).

This book is a tidy job in terms of structure, and a biased mess in terms of substance.

[Lp1989 · Rating 3 out of 5]

2&1/2 stars - very funny in parts but often nasty verging on racism