Product Description
In this single-volume history, R. Malcolm Errington provides a modern account of the political and social framework of ancient Macedon. He places particular emphasis on the structure of the Macedonian state and its functioning in different stages of historical development from the sixth to the second century B.C. Errington's main emphasis is not on the biographies of the great kings but rather on the flexible political interplay between king, nobility, and people; on the growth of cities and their political function within the state; and on the development of the army as a motor of military, social, and politicalchange. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Superb scholarly piece of work about Ancient Greek Macedonia
For all those interested in a substantiated unbiased piece of academic work about ancient Macedonia this book is nothing short of superb!

Very informative book!
This book is a very good introduction to the history of Macedonia (which, by the way, has nothing to do with the so-called Slavic country of FYROM "Macedonia" today) I found the reading enjoyable. This book is a great buy!

Great!
This is a very scholarly and wonderful book about the history of Macedonia. For those interested in Phillip II and his son Alexander the Great, this book gives a general history of the period and of the people involved.

An accurate and consice history of the Ancient Macedonians
M Errington's review is both accurate and timely, given the attempts by countries that are Greece's neighbors to usurp the name and the history of this most influential northern Greek kingdom. It is, perhaps along with U Wilckens' and N Hammond's the most fact-based. I have read it twice along with Borza's "In the Shadows of Olympus" and find it the most objective. Readers can see for themselves. Errington clearly illuminates the political
-that is what they were-differences between the Macedonians and the other Greeks. But most importantly he underscores Phillip's skillful political manoeuvres by which he outwitted the Southern Greeks and finally divided and conquered them. (The Anglo-Saxons certainly have learned from him as can be seen in the last 150 years).

Dr. Nick Papanikolaou

An excellent and accurate source of Macedonian history
Although I acquired this book by a different source than Amazon (before I discovered Amazon.com), I feel I should write a review, especially after reading the first review by the reader from NY.

This book is very well written and, I believe, will always be a great source of historical info. for myself and my daughter.

Mr. Errington's research and conclusions as to the ethnic makeup of the ancient Macedonians are not only correct they appear to be necessary in light of today's wave of self-serving history revisionism.

QUESTION #1: WHAT WAS THE LANGUAGE OF THE ANCIENT MACEDONIANS?

Here's what a couple of ancient (and obviously unbiased) sources say:

The Roman writer Titus Livius says : (from "The Foundation of the City", Paragraph 31)

"The Aitolians, the Akarnanians, the Macedonians, men of the same language, are united or disunited by trivial causes that arise from time to time; with aliens, with barbarians, all Greeks wage and will wage eternal war; for they are enemies by the will of nature, which is eternal, and not from reasons that change from day to day."

Didorus of Sicily (17.67.1) says:

(...) And the rest of the Greeks?

Pausanias writes in his book "Description of Greece" (10.3.3):

"The Phocians were deprived of their share in the Delphic sanctuary and in the Greek assembly, and their votes were given by the Amphictyons to the Macedonians."

and also in his book "Phokis" (8,2 & 4):

"They say that these were the tribes collected by Amphiktyon himself in the Hellenic Assembly: [...] the Macedonians joined and the entire Phocian race [...] In my day there were thirty members: six from each of Nikopolis, Macedonia and Thessaly [...] "

Aeschines (On the Embassy 2.32) gives evidence of the Macedonian king Amyntas taking part at the congress of the Lacedaemonian allies and the other Greeks:

"For at a congress of the Lacedaemonian allies and the other Greeks, in which Amyntas, the father of Philip, being entitled to a seat, was represented by a delegate whose vote was absolutely under his control, he joined the other Greeks in voting to help Athens to recover possession of Amphipolis. As proof of this I presented from the public records the resolution of the Greek congress and the names of those who voted".

Isocratis, one of the most impotant orators of ancient Greece says in his speach "To Philip" addressed to King Philip II of Macedonia (Paragaraph 127):

(...) The Sicilian historian Diodoros says in his history about King Philip of Macedonia (Diodoros, Historical Library 16.95.1-2)

"Such was the end of Philip, who had made himself the greatest of the kings in Europe in his time, and because of the extent of his kingdom had made himself a throned companion of the twelve gods. He had ruled twenty-four years. He is known to fame as one who with but the slenderest resources to support his claim to a throne won for himself the greatest empire in the Greek world, while the growth of his position was not due so much to his prowess in arms as to his adroitness and cordiality in diplomacy.

It is clear to see why special interest groups 'need' to separate ancient Macedonians from the rest of Greece. The new Slav Republic of "Macedonia" (FYROM), needs to establish some sort of link to the age of antiquity, in order to justify their self-proclaimed ethnic identity. It must be difficult to prove that you have some ancient local roots when your ancestors (Slavic tribes) descended on the Balkans about 800 years after the death of Alexander.

Books such as the Erringtons' are clearly needed in order to establish historical and cultural truth. Readers can simply judge for themselves.

Start with this book. ... Read more

Product Description
This book examines the relationship between national history, identity, and politics in twentieth-century Macedonia. It focuses on the reverberating power of events surrounding an armed uprising in August 1903, when a revolutionary organization challenged the forces of the Ottoman Empire by seizing control of the mountain town of Krusevo. A century later, Krusevo is part of the Republic of Macedonia and a site for yearly commemorations of 1903. In the course of the intervening hundred years, various communities have vied to establish an authoritative account of what happened in 1903--and to weave those events into a longer and wider narrative of social, cultural, and national evolution.

Keith Brown examines how Krusevo's residents, refugees, and exiles have participated--along with scholars, journalists, artists, bureaucrats, and politicians--in a conversation about their vexed past. By tracing different approaches to understanding, commemorating, and narrating the events of 1903, he shows how in this small mountain town the "magic of nationalism" by which destiny is written into particular historical events has neither failed nor wholly succeeded. Stories of heroism, self-sacrifice, and unity still rub against tales of treachery, score settling, and disaster as people come to terms with the legacies of imperialism, socialism, and nationalism. The efforts of Krusevo's successive generations to transcend a past of intercommunal violence reveal how rival claims to knowledge and truth acquire vital significance during rapid social, economic, and political change. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Dear FYROM Propaganda-User above...
A review of a book is no place for your pathetic propaganda!!! The county named Macedonia exists under its name since the boarders of Greece grew to the point where they stand today. The policy, you are mentionning, is a product of your propaganda-Mafia and of the phantasy of a state without its own identity and history. Greece is not responsible for your pityful lack of self esteem.

As Attiki, Hepeiros, Krete and many other regions official administrative counties of the Hellenik Republik are, so Macedonia has been one of them, from the point, that Macedonia entered the Hellenik Republik after the Balkan Wars. According to the othoman records, the greeks in the North were almost as many as the othomans and the bulgarophones were always a small minority. Macedonia was from the beginning of the history of this region to today a big part of the greek culture. Macedonia, with the pelasgian (the oldest greek tribe)-dorian population and the aolic dialect (the oldest dialect too) with doric influences in the ancient years, etymologically meaning the land with the high mountains, never lost its name or changed it.

Don't try to make out of a big historian like Nicholas Hammond a fool, just in order to present your lies! Before Tito, your region was called Vardarska! There was nothing macedonian in it, wasn't it??? Tito had to come and as he often stated (in resume): We will bring our propaganda through, whatever it costs. And trully, the bulgarian-albanian-salad of the region ex-Vardarska tries its best to follow the dogma of Tito.

After all the ancient writers, that proove Macedonia as a part of Greece, and despite the official name of the county, that is much older than from the 80's, despite the majority of greeks in the region even under the Othomans, despite the unbreakable continuity of greek speech and tradition through the centuries in this area, you are here, in a book review, to overdrow all this evidence with some lies against all political and historical reality!
You are not even funny, but pityful and ridiculous for sure!

To the book it self: For those, who seek a kind of encyclopedia about the north region of Greece, and especially about Macedonia in ancient times, this book is surely the right one for you. It covers all possible questions and it is based on ancient and modern sources. It can't get better. :D

Greek Denial of the Macedonian Name
The most important thing to remember about the "Macedonian conflict" is that the Greek position has changed dramatically over the past decade. Official Greek government policy was that Macedonia did not exist. When Greece took over Aegean Macedonia in 1913, they killed, tortured and ethnically cleansed hundreds of thousands of Macedonians. They changed the names of people, villages, and landmarks from Macedonian to Greek in their attempts to eradicate the Macedonian name.

Two things to remember:

1. It is ironic that Greeks now "love Macedonia" when they tried to eradicate its very existence.

2. If Macedonia has always been Greek, why did the Greek government deny its existence until the 1980's? ... Read more

Product Description
The history of Macedonia--the most remarkable of all monarchic states--is here presented from the death of Philip II through the state's loss of independence in 167 B.C. Recent discoveries about Macedonian arts and institutions have aided the authors in recounting the impact of Alexander's career, the civil war between the generals, and the final phase of Macedonian history, the wars with Rome. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

The best historic work on ancient Greek Macedonia.
N. G. L. Hammond was the leading authority in the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia. Tutor at Clare College, Cambridge. He was elected a member of the British Academy in 1968. He was also editor and contributor to various volumes of the Cambridge Ancient History and the second edition of the Oxford Classical Dictionary. His work on ancient Macedon is enormous. Based on solid archaeological evidence, he gives a clear and detailed description of this ancient Greek kingdom. A must buy for everyone who wants to study the specific period. ... Read more

Product Description
Webster's bibliographic and event-based timelines are comprehensive in scope, covering virtually all topics, geographic locations and people. They do so from a linguistic point of view, and in the case of this book, the focus is on "Macedonia," including when used in literature (e.g. all authors that might have Macedonia in their name). As such, this book represents the largest compilation of timeline events associated with Macedonia when it is used in proper noun form. Webster's timelines cover bibliographic citations, patented inventions, as well as non-conventional and alternative meanings which capture ambiguities in usage. These furthermore cover all parts of speech (possessive, institutional usage, geographic usage) and contexts, including pop culture, the arts, social sciences (linguistics, history, geography, economics, sociology, political science), business, computer science, literature, law, medicine, psychology, mathematics, chemistry, physics, biology and other physical sciences. This "data dump" results in a comprehensive set of entries for a bibliographic and/or event-based timeline on the proper name Macedonia, since editorial decisions to include or exclude events is purely a linguistic process. The resulting entries are used under license or with permission, used under "fair use" conditions, used in agreement with the original authors, or are in the public domain. ... Read more

Product Description
Publisher: London : J.J. GriffinPublication date: 1852Subjects: Greece -- HistoryMacedonia -- HistorySyria -- HistoryNotes: This is an OCR reprint. There may be numerous typos or missing text. There are no illustrations or indexes.When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. You can also preview the book there. ... Read more

Product Description
The book is about a village in the Balkan Peninsula of Europe where civilization originated and spread throughout Europe. Many nationalistic groups have invaded and claimed this area as their own, causing turmoil and the destabilization of Europe. The village is traceable back to the beginning of Christianity, where its people had been secluded and shielded by the Christian faith with detrimental consequences. Institutionalized falacies are analyzed and explained here, with respect to motives claimed by different factions of people of the European continent. The book also reports about family affairs and traditions enshrined in the people's every day lives. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (20)

An extroadinary look into ancient Macedon with the sources,archaeologicak discoveries and modern scholalry academi to back it up
One of the most complete compilations of Macedonia and specifically ancient Macedon the academic world has yet seen. Possessing hundreds upon hundreds of photos from archaeological discoveries spanning three continents, a plethora of ancient testimonies which serve in re-assuring what the majority of the field hold to be true to today, the Hellenism of the ancient Macedones.

From Persian inscriptions dating to 510 BCE (!) referring to the Macedones as "Yauna takabaras" [Greeks that wear sunhats] to the independent testimonies of ancient Roman writers such as Quintus Curtius Rufus claiming: "As for Alexander, it is generally agreed that, when sleep had brought him back to his senses after his drunken bout, he regretted his actions and said that the Persians would have suffered a more grievous punishment at the hands of the Greeks had they been forced to see him on Xerxes' throne and in his palace."
(Quintus Curtius Rufus 5.7.11) and clearly labeling Alexander's conquest as a Greek crusade. To Titius Livius veryfing the language of the Macedones:the ten Commissioners took his official seat surrounded by the whole crowds of Macedonians...Paulus announced in Latin the decisions of the Senate, as well as his own, made by the advice of his council. This announcement was translated into Greek and repeated by Gnaeus Octavius the Praetor-for he too was present." (T. Livius,XLV) AND YET AGAIN,"Aetolians, Acarnanians, Macedonians, men of the same language" (T. Livius XXXI,29, 15) placing the Macedones amongst other Greek speaking tribes. Justin ANOTHER Roman writer clearly giving us a backround detail into the foundation of the Macedonian throne: "Caranus also came to Emathia with a large band of Greeks, being instructed by an oracle to seek a home in Macedonia." - Justinus epitome of Pompeius Trogus' Universal History 7.1 And again Plutarch with the obvious: "..he read the inscriptions and then ordered to write under it a translation in Greek..." - Plutarchos Alexandros,69,4

The astonishing amount of literary sources that have survived continually point one way in how to regard the ancient Macedones, is truly amazing. It isnt just the Persians or Romans who clearly regarded the Macedones as Greeks, the list continues with the ancient Hebrew historians such as Josephus, Philo Judaeus and of course the holy scriptures of the Macabees and the Talmud (including the prophet Daniel, chap.8, 1-22 chap.2 para.39 4-13, 26-28, 31, 38 chap. 7, 2-7) Right down to the Bible and the New Testament reaffirming what we already knew: "Paul the Apostle, was summoned to Macedonia by a Macedonian in the form of a vision speaking to him in Greek" (Act Apost. XVI 9,10) and speaking of Greeks in Macedon as natives again: "The Apostles Paul and Silas met Greek men and women in Thessaloniki and Beroea" (Act Apost. XVII 4, 12).

Clearly the Hellenistic nature of the Macedones was not disputed thousands of years ago, not by foreign writers, nor the rest of the Greeks. MOST IMPORTANTLY not by the Macedones THEMSELVES who CLEARLY thought of THEMSELVES as Hellenes and held a common blood-line with the rest of the Greeks. Who then are we to tell the Macedones who they were ?

"...Your ancestors came to Macedonia and the rest of Greece and did us great harm, though we had done them no prior injury. I have been appointed leader of the Greeks, and wanting to punish the Persians I have come to Asia, which I took from you..." - Arrian II (Anabasis) 14, 4

"Now that the men of this family are Hellenes, sprung from Perdiccas, as they themselves affirm, is a thing which I can declare on my own knowledge, and which I will hereafter make plainly evident. That they are so has been already adjudged by those who manage the Pan-Hellenic contest at Olympia"
(Herodotus, The Histories 8.43)

"Now that these descendants of Perdiccas are Hellenes, as they themselves say, I myself chance to know"
(Herodotus V, 22, 1)

"The country by the sea which is now called Macedonia... Alexander, the father of Perdiccas, and his forefathers, who were originally Temenidae from Argos"
(Thuc. II, 99, 3 [Loeb, C. F. Smith])

"Argos is the land of your fathers". Isocrates, To Philip, XII, 32 (Loeb, G. Norlin),

As a famous Greek once said, "time is the father of truth" And if time has given us an indication into the ethnic nature of the Macedones it has remained clear throughout the ages, and that is: MACEDONIA: 4000 YEARS OF GREEK HISTORY AND CIVILIZATION !

COLD HARD FACTS
Macedonia: 4000 years of Greek History and Civilazation is well written and supported by facts and ancient artifacts..

Before I begin my review id like to point out some inaccuracies from previous reviews listed here..First, there was no Greek nation in ancient times but Greek city-states...Athens Sparta ThebesCorinth and yes Macedonia...Ive read previous reviews where the authors claim that the the Greeks revolted under Macedoanian rule which is true...Greek city states greatly valued their independence even from other Greek city states..Such is the case between Athens and Sparta when they tried to dominate each other leading to the Peloponnesian War..It is natural that they would revolt..Claiming that because the other Greek city-states revolted against Macedonia as proof of Macedonians being a non-Greek people is false!!

Id like to ask or suggest some food for thought to my FYROM readers(Former YugoSLAV Republic Of Macedonia) or disbelievers that the MAcedonians wereGreek these FACTS:

1)Why is there no evidence of a non-Greek Macedonian language?
the ancient Macedonians spoke Greek and had Greek names..
2)Where is this non-Greek Macedonian culture hiding?
All ancient Macedonian artifacts are Greek
Are we suppose to believe the that the ancient Macedoanians were not Greek and then one day out of the blue they said the hell with it let's be Greek? Lets speak Greek, worship Greek gods, write in Greek, structure our conquered territory based on Greek ideas and culture, setting up gymnasiums, theater, agoras..etc.. common on people!!! No conquerer has ever conquered a country or territory and then poof in an instant forgot his roots..I once heard someone use Rome as an example regarding its conquering of the ancient Greek city states and adopting Greek culture.Id like to point out that Rome never adopted Greek as its official language. Romans never adopted Greek names ( cicero ceasar aurelias are not greek)and most of all you can clearly see a distinction between Roman literature and Greek..

3)Why did Alexander idolize Greek heroes such as Achilles, why did he keep a copy of the Illiad around as if it were his bible written by another Greek Homer..How is Aristotle his tutor Greek and Alexander isnt when they are both Macedonians?


4) Why would the ancient Greeks place the home of their gods( Zeus Athena Poseidon etc) on MT OLYMPUS which is located in ancient Macedonia??
Does it make sense for a people to place their holy sites in a foreign land???Doesnt anyone think logically anymore?

Todays inhabitants of FYROM are a mix ofBulgarians, Albanians, Gypsies.
Slavic people arrived in the Balkans in the 6th and 7th century AD...
It is LOGICALLY incorrect for these citizens to believe they are Macedonians...They are Slavs and there is ZERO evidence of the ancient Macedonians being Slavic!!!!

Todays FYROM scholars have NO TANGIBLE EVIDENCE to claim that the ancient Macedonians were not Greek just revisionistic lies!!!!


Furthermore,FYROM's former president Kiro Gligorov in the Toronto Star on March 15, 1992 said: "We are Macedonians but we are Slav Macedonians. That's who we are! We have no connection to Alexander the Greek and his Macedonia. The ancient Macedonians no longer exist, they had disappeared from history long time ago. Our ancestors came here in the 5th and 6th century (AD)."



In an interview with the Ottawa Citizen, Gyordan Veselinov, Macedonia's Ambassador to Canada said: "We are not related to the northern Greeks who produced leaders like Philip and Alexander the Great. We are a Slav people and our language is closely related to Bulgarian" and that "there is some confusion about the identity of the people of this country."

When pictures talk
Over the past fifteen, I have heard a lot of claims by nationalists and anthropologists that the Ancient Macedonians and, in general the Macedonians weren't Hellenes. I guess they focus their teachings on misinformed people that haven't opened a book on Ancient Greece.
Unfortunately, social anthropologists have replaced historians however, they can't distort archeological findings found in Macedonia that prove them wrong. This book, gives the reader not only an analytic description of the history of Macedonians from Ancient times till present (Ottoman,Balkan wars,EU) but it also includes plenty of pictures of items from different macedonian museums and the Royal Tombs in Vergina that disapprove current overlooked scholars of anthropology that the Macedonians weren't Hellenes or were Hellenized.
Furthermore, the quotes from different sources are translated properly and in whole without paste and deleting. An example is: "Macedonians and the other Hellenes" and not what we have been taught today "Macedonians and Hellenes". Another example is the emphasis of Demosthenes calling Phillipo 'barbaric' but modern scholars have omitted the words 'hegemony of our lands'.
Before you call this book biased, the book has been written by different international and hellene authors that cover different historic periods.
Anyway, I recommend this book to anyone, especially the Hellenic diaspora, whose interested in Ancient Hellenic History. This is one out of six books of (Greek lands in History).

Book Review
The book in question is a perspective of the author done to perfection. It is not written with any notion of promoting scholarly balance in mind.Nor does it reflect on its use as a tool for propagating disinformation.This book merely discounts any information and evidence that presents itself as contrary to the views proposed by this work.As such, its value as a research tool outside of the study of propaganda is significantly diminished.The work is presented as pure research, but rather it shows itself to be a tiresome quagmire of propaganda which ultimately achieves no purpose other than fuelling continued ill feeling between two distinct ethnic groups.

Macedonia will always be a part of Greece
This book is excellent. If you really want to know the truth about the history of Macedonia, go out and read this book. To the people of F.Y.R.O.M..... It's harder to steal when everyone knows your a thief. ... Read more

Product Description
An introduction to one of the significant peoples of the Balkan peninsula, this book presents the achievements and problems of the Macedonians from ancient times to the present.Most Macedonians today live in Yogoslavia, where they comprise one of the five major national groups and dominate one of the six federated Republics, but a sizable number reside in Bulgaria and Greece. The introductory chapter outlines the complex geography, ethnography, and ancient history of the Balkans. The mysterious Macedonians of the Classical Period vanished with Philip and Alexander, to be replaced in the 6th and 7th centuries A.D by a Slavic people who came from the Russo-Polish-Ukranian plains in the Great Migration to the Byzantine empire. The Macedonians adopted Eastern Orthodoxy, and their language, written in Cyrillic script, became one of three principal languages of Yugoslavia. The Macedonians have preserved a rich cultural identity through 13 centuries of political turmoil and partition. Macedonia- including the Greek and Bulgarian parts- has distinctive customs, folklore, art, and architecture. ... Read more

Product Description
This book, which is the result of more than 30 years of research, is a detailed history of Vardar Macedonian Jews until the Final Solution in Treblinka. Until now there has been a Hebrew edition published in 1986 and a Serbian one in 1990. This English version is an expanded one, much more comprehensive and enriched with material found in new documents and presented in a clear manner. Existing and available documents in sources in many languages have been consulted, as can be seen in Bibliography at the end of the book.This is the first time there is an English-language version of the story of the Macedonian Jews. This book will be of interest not only to the descendants of Macedonian Jews who live in the United States and in other English-speaking countries who are looking for information on their ancestry, but will also be welcomed by a wider audience. Tide and Wreck is dedicated to the Jews of ex-Yugoslavia, especially to those who lived in Macedonia for centuries until their tragic end in the Holocaust. The wounds have never healed, but this book is helping to repay at least some of the debt to their memory. ... Read more

Product Description
Alexander the Great: A New History combines traditional scholarship with contemporary research to offer an innovative treatment of one of history’s most famous figures.

• Written by leading experts in the field
  
• Looks at a wide range of diverse topics including Alexander’s religious views, his entourage during his campaign East, his sexuality, the influence of his legacy, and his representations in art and cinema
  
• Discusses Alexander’s influence, from his impact on his contemporaries to his portrayals in recent Hollywood films
  
• A highly informed and enjoyable resource for students and interested general readers

Product Description
Historical biography of Dimitri Nasos, a Macedonian ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Greek Biography
The subtitle of this book, "A Biographical History of Dimitri Nasos", is a very telling statement of the contents. Mr. Nestor has taken the story of his father and placed it within a fictional context. Most likely this was done because it is difficult to tell the life of one who is no longer alive and able to add to what one has been told.Too many other reviews of this book get into the politics of a region of the world where blood has been shed over and over again for national politics. The beauty of this story is the description of the life and character of Dimitri Nasos who displays the best of teachings of an Orthodox Christian who emigrated to America and embraced the great opportunities offered here.It tells a story of the early Greek American who has not often found a voice.Dimitri Nasos is mirrored in other Greeks who arrived here before 1920, worked hard, helped their extended families in Greece and friends in America. Dimitri Nasos in speaking to his child tells her, " I've done everything I could to help our people here, from the first day I came back from America.It didn't matter who they were or what they believed. If they needed help--money, jobs,a good word--I gave it to them. It is not right to talk about the good things one does, but I am telling you this so you'll understand what I stand for and how I feel." This sentence explains why the author wrote this book and what it makes it a very good read.

not about macedonia or the macedonians
this book is about the asian christians that were brought into aegean macedonia, to assimilate with the native macedonians, to give them a feeeling of greekness, after the greeks occupied the southern half of the kingdom of macedonia after the second balken war. this person(author?)is having an internal conflict themselves after having a sex change. interesting though, that they have the same problem about their identity, since they were brought into macedonia as greeks from turkey in the 1920 s , they know deep down they cannot be real greeks so they try to steal the native macedonians identity and make it their own. confusing, yes, just as the writer he/she is. I doubt that any of these stories are real infact thats all they maybe is just that stories, pitifull!!!!!

Interesting biography
An interesting story which, althought from a personal point of view as any biography, it provides a good description of macedonia during the 20th century. I have read this book and I may say that some of the previous reviewers rated it only based on its title and the sort description provided. Thus I attribute the attacks to misunderstanding. This book refers to the province of macedonia in northern greece (the ancient kingdom) and it's relation to bulgaria and NOT to the slavs (of bulgarian blood) and their civil war with the minotiry of albanians in the modern-slavic-macedonia (the ancient kingdom of Paeonia).
This common 'macedonia' name tends to confuse a lot of people.

PS. I know that albanians hate this name, please forgive me, but this is the name that the ex-yugoslavian state selected since 1991.

Certainly not an "Angela's Ashes"
This is not a good book, in fact, it is a dreadful book. The problem is not so much the subject matter (D. Nasos), rather, it is the way it is written. The author unfortunately does an injustice to the life of her father by the inclusion of pan-Hellenic nonsense throughout much of the book. References to Greek gods, heroes and morality is fine, but in this case it was grossly over-done and verging on the ridiculous. The total disregard to the Macedonian-speaking population in northern Greece is tragic. Perhaps she did not have enough information to write a comprehensive account of her father's life. This is a pity as I was quite seduced by small framents of his life, especially in America. His early years in the "new world" when he was struggling to earn a few dollars were most moving and I feel much, much more could have been said. This book appears to be nothing more than a Greek ethnocentric view of life written by a person who should have left the writing to someone who has something interesting to say. To the reviewer who claimed that this book is better than ANGELA'S ASHES - you have got to be joking!

Learn about Macedonia and its people of Northern Greece.
Macedonia is in the news today because of the refugees crossing the border from Kosovo. Read about Macedonia and its history from a personal viewpoint. It will help to understand the problems in that part of Europe.Macedonians have struggled for years with the Bulgarians and Turks. Nowthey have an insurge of people needing help. Read about the Macedonianpeople and learn of their culture and their ways. It will help oneunderstand the struggle going on in that part of the world. It is not a newone but an ongoing one. The Macedonians of Thomay Nestor's book are a kindand gentle people. It has been said that this book is better than ANGELA'SASHES. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Thumb's up
The mini-bios accompanying the text are a great innovation -- very lively and dramatic. What a cast of characters!

same quality as Heckel's Marshals
If you liked Heckel's book "Marshals of Alexander", you will like this one too. Beth Carney writes good, short biographies of the important women that were around in Alexander's time. I might disagree on deatils with her view e.g. on Roxane, but this is a thorough, serious and especially very readable scholarly study. I have waited two years since its publication before I bought it. I wished I had not. ... Read more

Product Description
For nearly 130 years, the Greeks, the Bulgarians, and the Yugoslavs have fought over the question of who has the historical and demographic rights to use the name "Macedonia." Historically the land of Philip II and Alexander the Great, Aristotle, Mount Olympus and the Greek gods, Macedonia boasts an impressive cultural heritage that the Greeks have claimed as their own. In 1991, a state resulting from the breakup of Yugoslavia proclaimed itself Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), angering the Greeks and adding fuel to the persistent dispute.

This book argues the Macedonian question from a Greek perspective. It questions FYROM’s right to the Macedonian name, arguing that Greece possesses the historical, cultural, linguistic, anthropological and demographic ties to the legacy of Alexander. Research examines the origins of the dispute between Hellenism and Bulgarism, the Balkans wars, the world wars and the rise of Tito’s communism in Yugoslavia. The book also shows, step by step, the misconceptions about the legacy of Macedonia as promulgated by international communism, and carefully analyzes communism’s role as the main protagonist in the formation of the new state and as a pivotal source fomenting and fueling the GreekCivil War. Cover to cover, it traces the conflict’s change from an initial struggle between Hellenism and Bulgarism to the present dispute between Athens and Skopje. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Insightful Book for those Interested in Understanding the Macedonia Issue
First, I would like to point out that I am not Greek nor from the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. My family is from Ireland and I have no roots in either ethnicity. I have read many books on this issue, and even though written by a Greek, this book had been the most truthful and accurate. I have PhD in History and as such have the background and access to the appropriate sources to identify revisionist history. Every fact/claim made by the author has been supported by respected and authoritative sources.

I am personally sick and tired of reading reviews by both Greeks and people from the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia that make claims and argue points without historical support. The bottom line for those without Greek and Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia roots is that all respected historical texts support that the ancient Macedonians, like the Athenians, Spartans, etc. were Greek. Moreover, this issue has only arisen for one purpose having nothing to do with heritage but access to the Aegean via Thessaloniki. It is about money!!!! That is why the Soviets first via the Bulgarians and then through Tito desired that access.

TRUTH
..First, there was no Greek nation in ancient times but Greek city-states...Athens Sparta ThebesCorinth and yes Macedonia...Ive read previous reviews where the authors claim that the the Greeks revolted under Macedoanian rule which is true...Greek city states greatly valued their independence even from other Greek city states..Such is the case between Athens and Sparta when they tried to dominate each other leading to the Peloponnesian War..It is natural that they would revolt..Claiming that because the other Greek city-states revolted against Macedonia as proof of Macedonians being a non-Greek people is false!!

Id like to ask or suggest some food for though to my FYROM readers(Former YugoSLAV Republic Of Macedonia) or disbelievers that the MAcedonians were Greek these FACTS:

1)Why is there no evidence of a non-Greek Macedonian language?
the ancient Macedonians spoke Greek and had Greek names..
2)Where is this non-Greek Macedonian culture hiding?
All ancient Macedonian artifacts are Greek
Are we suppose to believe the that the ancient Macedoanians were not Greek and then one day out of the blue they said the hell with it let's be Greek? Lets speak Greek, worship Greek gods, write in Greek, structure our conquered territory based on Greek ideas and culture, setting up gymnasiums, theater, agoras..etc.. common on people!!! No conquerer has ever conquered a country or territory and then poof in an instant forgot his roots..I once heard someone use Rome as an example regarding its conquering of the ancient Greek city states and adopting Greek culture.Id like to point out that Rome never adopted Greek as its official language. Romans never adopted Greek names ( cicero ceasar aurelias are not greek)and most of all you can clearly see a distinction between Roman literature and Greek..

3)Why did Alexander idolize Greek heroes such as Achilles, why did he keep a copy of the Illiad around as if it were his bible written by another Greek Homer..How is Aristotle his tutor Greek and Alexander isnt when they are both Macedonians?


4) Why would the ancient Greeks place the home of their gods( Zeus Athena Poseidon etc) on MT OLYMPUS which is located in ancient Macedonia??
Does it make sense for a people to place their holy sites in a foreign land???Doesnt anyone think logically anymore?

Todays inhabitants of FYROM are a mix ofBulgarians, Albanians, Gypsies.
Slavic people arrived in the Balkans in the 6th and 7th century AD...
It is LOGICALLY incorrect for these citizens to believe they are Macedonians...They are Slavs and there is ZERO evidence of the ancient Macedonians being Slavic!!!!

Todays FYROM scholars have NO TANGIBLE EVIDENCE to claim that the ancient Macedonians were not Greek just revisionistic lies!!!!

Furthermore,FYROM's former president Kiro Gligorov in the Toronto Star on March 15, 1992 said: "Wee have no connection to Alexander the Greek and his Macedonia.

In an interview with the Ottawa Citizen, Gyordan Veselinov, Macedonia's Ambassador to Canada said: "We are not related to the northern Greeks who produced leaders like Philip and Alexander the Great. We are a Slav people and our language is closely related to Bulgarian" and that "there is some confusion about the identity of the people of this country."

Excelent Book
An excellent book full of historical facts. Based on solid archaeological evidence and real ancient sources.
Every person should read it just to realize how incredible stupid are the arguments provided by the Slav-Macedonian fanatics who are claiming Greek-Macedonia!

Claiming Macedonia: The Struggle for the Heritage, Territory and Name of the Historic Hellenic Land, 1862-2004
Excellent, concise, and well written book.Provides a logical argument based on historical facts.

Excellent book
An excellent book.Filled with historical accuracy and not the "propoganda" that has been delivered by the "psuedo-macedonijians" and the state of FYROM.It is about time that a book of this nature has surfaced!!!The slavic ultranationalists need to read this book and understand that falsifying history is not assisting anyone in the Balkans!!! ... Read more

Product Description
The most comprehensive and up-to-date work available on ancient Macedonian history and material culture, A Companion to Ancient Macedonia is an invaluable reference for students and scholars alike.

• Features new, specially commissioned essays by  leading and up-and-coming scholars in the field
• Examines the political, military, social, economic, and cultural history of ancient Macedonia from the Archaic period to the end of Roman period and beyond
• Discusses the importance of art, archaeology and architecture
• All ancient sources are translated in English
• Each chapter includes bibliographical essays for further reading

Product Description

Throughout history, every power that aspired to dominate the Balkans—from the ancient Romans to Bulgaria, Greece, and Serbia in the age of imperialism and nationalism in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries—has sought to control Macedonia. But although Macedonia figured prominently in history, it remained a little-known land until the nineteenth century.

This detailed volume surveys the history of Macedonia from 600 B. C. to the present day, with an emphasis on the past two centuries. It reveals how the so called Macedonian question has long dominated Balkan politics, and how for well over a century and a half, it was the central issue dividing Balkan peoples, as neighboring nations struggled for possession of Macedonia and denied any distinct Macedonian identity—territorial, political, ethnic, or national.

The book shows how, during the long struggle for Macedonia, some ethnic Macedonians adopted or had to adopt the national identity of one of the competing nations, most chose a Macedonian identity—and how Macedonia's struggle to establish a distinct national identity goes on even today.

The author concludes that Balkan acceptance of a Macedonian identity, nation, and state has become a necessity for stability in the Balkans and in a united Europe.

Customer Reviews (3)

Very biased book
This is a very biased book. It is clearly a repetition of the arguments of the Skopje propaganda machine dressed up as " history ". It grossly manipulates the avalable information and misinforms the reader about the situation in the Balkans in the late 19th and early 20th centuries; it covers up the oppressive policies of the Tito regime against the Bulgarian and Greeks in Vardar Macedonia; it cooks population statistics; it never discusses the continuing suppression of the Albanian minority; it falsifies the numbers of the Albanians in the Republic of Macedonia - currently estimated to 40%; and it does not face the issues of falsification of history for which both Bulgarians and Greeks acuse the Skopje regime. Mr Rossos is obviously a very motivated Slavic Macedonian but this type of books do not help the situation in the Balkans , they just make the ultranationalists happy. Mr Rossos also avoid the real question of the future of Macedonia: what will happen when, due to their high birth rates,in one generation the Albanians will become the majority in this republic? and all the bets are that this currently suppressed minority will demand their rights?

A minority perspective
Rossos takes a distinctly minority perspective on Macedonia's borders, essentially arguing that Macedonia rightfully should contain all the Ottoman territory in the Balkans at the time of the 1913 partition, in which substantial lands went to Bulgaria in the east and to Greece in the south. In fact, the book cover says Rossos "was born in Greek (Aegean) Macedonia." In fact, this greater Macedonia never existed as a country and it didn't have the characteristics of a nation -- ethnic cohesion, common language, established borders -- and few Macedonians I have talked with accept this perspective. With that caveat in mind, however, the reader can gain a good sense of Balkan history from this volume.

Macedonia Rising
An authoritative and extensively researched exposition of the history of Macedonians in Macedonia. A truthful account with penetrating insight of how a small ancient people of the Balkans overcame improbable odds and withstood the concerted efforts of neighbouring nations to destroy it into extinction. ... Read more

Product Description
Between the ninth and fourteenth century, hundreds of architecturally exquisite Byzantine churches, many of them adorned with beautiful frescoes, were built in the area now known as the Republic of Macedonia. The condition of these buildings has been of ongoing concern because of deterioration and destruction from forces both human and natural, including devastating earthquakes.
This book summarizes the results of a four-year study to develop and test seismic retrofitting techniques for the repair and strengthening of those ancient Byzantine churches still in existence. The volume considers the conservation of historic buildings in seismic zones; surveys the condition of fifty existing Byzantine churches in Macedonia; and details the design, construction, and seismic testing of a half-scale model church. The volume also includes representative experimental and technical data. ... Read more