Atlas of the Greek World

The Cultural Atlas of the World

by Peter Levi

An amply illustrated history of ancient Greek civilization focuses on Greek achievements in philosophy, medicine, sports, theater, sculpture, economics, science, and law, incorporating visits to the twenty-six major architectural sites

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Reference, Ancient History, Greece, Atlases

240 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1980

About the author

Peter Chad Tigar Levi, FSA, FRSL, Professor of Poetry at the University of Oxford (1984–1989) was a poet, archaeologist, sometime Jesuit priest, travel writer, biographer, academic and prolific reviewer and critic.

Reviews

[Erik Graff · Rating 4 out of 5]

While working for the Ares Press I read and reviewed several books published by Facts on File. I was not impressed. This volume, however, is an exception. Author Levi is not only a master of the material, but also its lover, an appreciation of Greek culture warmly conveyed throughout his text.

Most histories of ancient Greece concentrate on what we can infer from such texts as come down to us and from archaeological discoveries. Levi adds to this a serious consideration of such factors as geography and climate. His book also benefits from a wealth of maps (though not always as coordinated to all textual references as one would like), not to mention its many beautiful photographs.

[Samrat · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pleasure to read, marred mostly by the author's continual pronouncements of taste without context. The final portion of the book devolves into pure parochialism for Greece and the authors pronouncements of Greekness to a degree I've never experienced outside of parochialism for Indianness in WhatsApp forwards.

[Jack · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some beautiful maps and a cohesive narrative. Unfortunately the photographs aren’t so great and the art history side was beyond me.

[María Villalta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un buen vistazo acerca de la historia antigua de la civilización griega. Un libro bien ilustrado, de lectura amena.

[Sean Sexton · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is just a little bit dry, but is also one step above a coffee table book. It contains text mixed with plenty of color photographs, drawings and maps. The photographs and maps spice up the text a bit, which would be pretty boring without them (due to the writing, rather than the subject matter). Still, a pretty interesting book.

[Ken · Rating 4 out of 5]

I acquired this book, along with other similar books in the Facts on File series, to complement my reading of history in other texts.

This publication I obtained to learn about some portion of what it covers and not necessarily everything it contains, so factor that into whatever I write in my review.

[Thom Dunn · Rating 4 out of 5]

An exceptionally fine coffee-table book in an excellent series. And to think you can buy one used today (3-30-2011) on Amazon for 72 cents. (Yeah, yeah, plus 3.99 shipping).