The Greek Revolution: 1821 and the Making of Modern Europe

Mark Mazower's book "The Battle for Greece" is a new statesman and Times Literary Supplement Book of the Year 2021, shortlisted for the Runciman Award 2022. It recreates one of the most compelling, unlikely, and significant events in the story of modern Europe, where the people of Greece rose up against Sultan Mahmud II and took on the might of the imperial Ottoman armed forces. Mazower brilliantly brings together the different strands of the story, exploring the central place of the struggle in the making of Romanticism and a new kind of politics.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 624 pages
Publication date: 26 January 2023
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd

The Duff Cooper Prize 2021 has been awarded to Mark Mazower's remarkable book, which has been shortlisted for the Runciman Award 2022. This book has been recognized as the Book of the Year 2021 by both the New Statesman and the Times Literary Supplement. It is highly deserving of its status as the standard treatment of the subject in English for many decades to come.

In the aftermath of Napoleon's defeat in 1815, a single cause emerged to inspire countless individuals across Europe and the United States: the liberation of Greece. Mark Mazower's magnificent new book vividly reimagines one of the most captivating, unlikely, and significant events in the history of modern Europe. Despite overwhelming odds, the people of Greece's villages, valleys, and islands rose up against Sultan Mahmud II and challenged the formidable imperial Ottoman armed forces, their Turkish cavalrymen, Albanian foot soldiers, and the fearsome Egyptians. Despite facing devastating disasters, they persevered until military intervention by Russia, France, and Britain finally secured the kingdom of Greece.

Mazower masterfully weaves together the various threads of the story, taking us into the minds of revolutionary conspirators, the horrors of besieged towns, the tales of itinerant priests, sailors, and slaves, ambiguous heroes, and defenseless women and children struggling to survive amidst a conflict of extraordinary brutality. Spanning across the Eastern Mediterranean and far beyond, he explores the central role of the struggle in shaping Romanticism and the emergence of a new kind of politics that saw volunteers from across Europe willing to sacrifice their lives in support of the Greeks. This book is, above all, a testament to how people chose to perceive their world and the forces that shaped it.

Weight: 451g
Dimension: 198 x 129 x 27 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780141978741