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Princeton Univ. Press, Princeton, 2015, 416
pgs., index, huge bibliography, extensive notes, maps, figures
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Reviewer Comments:
Dr. Ober views and discusses classical Greece in the manner proposed in his
title, namely as a whole from a high observation point despite its fractionated
division into hundreds (a thousand) of independent societies. Unfortunately he
follows the modern way of terming all these polai as 'states' rather than as
societies. Despite that terminology in his descriptions and analysis of events
he treats them as the results of decisions made by individuals. But his
approach enables him to bring a stronger sense of coherence to the story than
one finds in many other treatments. He also uses modern sociological and
political science academic tools in his analysis. For instance is his use of
the term 'efflorescence' meaning the economic and cultural flourishing of the
Greeks prior to the conquest by Macedon. Thus he takes the expansion of the
classical period of Greek societies as a whole while also describing the unique
as well as similar conditions in the major Greek societies. They recognized
themselves to be locally independent while also being constituent members of a
community of Greeks quite distinct from the 'barbarians' who surrounded them.
Despite their agreement about being different they continually engaged in
sometimes fratricidal conflicts among themselves. Their culture and economic
basis reached its high point as he describes in chapter 8 "Golden age of
Empire' which includes his excellent analysis of the culminating conflict that
eventually led to their 'fall' to Macedon.
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James Romm - Greeks and Their Gifts - a
review of Dr. Ober's book in the WSJ, May 23-24 2015.
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Preface
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1 -The Efflorescence of Classical Greece
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2 - Ants around a Pond: An Ecology of
City-States
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3 - Political Animals: A Theory of
Decentralized Cooperation
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4 - Wealthy Hellas: Measuring Efflorescence
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5 - Explaining Hellas' Wealth: Fair Rules and
Competition
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6 - Citizens and Specialization before 550
B.C.
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7 - From Tyranny to Democracy, 550 - 465 B.C.
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8 - Golden Age of Empire, 478 - 404 B.C.
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9 - Disorder and Growth, 403 - 340 B.C.
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10 - Political Fall, 359 - 334 B.C.
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11 - Creative Destruction and Immortality
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Appendix I - Regions of the Greek World:
Population, Size, Fame
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Appendix II - King City and Elite Game
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