But the most important element of the story is nimble twentieth-century entrepreneurship. The Second World War devastated Greek shipping, destroying more than 70 percent of the country’s commercial fleet by the end of hostilities. But enterprising Greeks soon found a way to replace that lost tonnage: by acquiring surplus Liberty Ships produced for the Allied war effort, which were being sold off in large numbers. Despite the demands of fighting a well-organized Communist insurgency, and the severe poverty of large parts of the population, the Greek government managed to find the resources to
...more
