Nicolas Coldstream and George Huxley began excavations on the Greek island of Kythera in 1963. Their mission was to find out if the Minoans of ancient Crete had established a maritime empire, as Herodotus, Aristotle and other classical authors claimed. Digging in the fertile valley of Paleopoli, they were quickly successful, finding plentiful evidence of homes, agriculture, trade, shipping, cults and burials. Over the next nine years they made further visits to the island, studying the rich archaeological finds and writing up the results in this remarkable book, which includes articles commissioned from leading scholars on Kythera's history, geology and topography.

Kythera Excavations and Studies was originally published by Faber & Faber in 1972. That edition has long been out of print and is now a scarce collector's item. The reprint of this defiinitive work coincides with the opening of the restored Archaeological Museum in Kythera and makes a lost classic available for a new generation of readers.