The Making of Modern Greece: Nationalism, Romanticism, and the Uses of the Past (1797-1896)

In 1821, when the banner of revolution was raised against the empire of the Ottoman Turks, the story of 'Modern Greece' is usually said to begin. Less well known is the international recognition given to Greece as an independent state with full sovereign rights, as early as 1830, placing Greece in the vanguard among the new nation-states of Europe. This book brings together scholars from a variety of disciplines to explore the contribution of characteristically 19th-century European modes of thought to the 'making' of Greece as a modern nation. It focuses on the themes of nationalism, romanticism and the uses of the Classical and Byzantine past in the construction of a durable national identity at once 'Greek' and 'modern'.

About the Author

Roderick Beaton is Koraes Professor of Modern Greek and Byzantine History, Language and Literature, and David Ricks is Senior Lecturer in Modern Greek Studies, both in the Department of Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies, King's College London, UK.