Greece Between East and West

Culture and Geopolitics (Durrell Studies 7)

Edited By: Richard Pine

From £37.99

This book examines Greece's pivotal role between East and West, exploring the tension between “westernisation” and the enduring values of its eastern legacy. This is explored through culture, politics, music, historical cities, and more. With a Foreword by Roderick Beaton.

Greece Between East and West looks at the central geopolitical situation of Greece, and its pivotal role in the Balkans and the Levant. The trend…

Greece Between East and West looks at the central geopolitical situation of Greece, and its pivotal role in the Balkans and the Levant. The trend towards “modernisation” and “westernisation” is examined in the light of traditional values in culture, language, history and politics which reflect Greece’s eastern legacy and the continuing presence of that legacy in contemporary society. It features original creative writing, an interview with a leading film-maker, provocative accounts of political and cultural agitation on the Aegean islands, aspects of Greek music and drama, plus historical accounts of Greek cities like Smyrna/Izmir and Alexandria, and the new phenomenon of China’s re-creation of the historic “Silk Road”. Additionally, Greece Between East and West features a Foreword by Roderick Beaton, one of the most distinguished scholars and commentators on Greek history and social affairs, and current Chair of the British School at Athens.

Richard Pine is Director of the Durrell Library of Corfu, and series editor of “Durrell Studies”. He is the author of many books on literature and music, including Lawrence Durrell: the Mindscape (1994/2023), The Eye of the Xenos: letters about Greece (2021), The Disappointed Bridge: Ireland and the Post-Colonial World (2014) and has co-edited Islands of the Mind: psychology, literature, biodiversity (2020) and Borders and Borderlands: explorations in identity, exile and translation (2021). His collected essays on cultural politics 1978-2018, The Quality of Life, appeared in 2022.

Spyros Orfanos, Roy Foster, Neni Panourgia, Chloe Howe Haralambous, John Mazis, Stratos Myrogiannis, Tassos Boulmetis, Robin Ostle, Richard Stoneman, Sirshendu Majumdar, Gail Holst-Warhaft, Sophia Kalantzakos, Richard Pine, Emilia Salvanou, Kapka Kassabova, Resat Kasaba, Christy Lefteri