Western civilization began with the Greeks. From the highpoint of the 5th century BC through the cultural triumphs of the Alexandrian era to their impact on the developing Roman empire, the Greeks shaped the philosophy, art, architecture and literature of the Mediterranean world.

Beginning with the Homeric period, once believed to be a realm of myth, Mike Paine takes the reader on a journey through twelve centuries and more of Greek culture. He shows what archaeologists have revealed of the Trojan Wars and Mycenae, outlines the glories of Athens at its height and provides a gripping narrative of the struggle between the Greeks and the mighty Persian empire. The careers of great political and military leaders like Pericles and Alexander the Great are highlighted and the importance of the great philosophers like Plato and Aristotle is demonstrated. Dramatists and demagogues, stoics and epicureans, aristocrats and helots all take their place in the unfolding story of the Greek achievement.