The Backstory:
Greece

Walter Wangerin

Walter Wangerin brings us a dramatic, fictionalized retelling of the life of Paul based on biblical texts and extensive on-site research. Readers gain a new appreciation for the sacrifices of the apostles and the early believers and gain new insights into the life of the early church.

John R. Hale

A rousing history of the world's first dominant navy and the towering empire it built. The Athenian Navy was one of the finest fighting forces in the history of the world. It engineered a civilization, empowered the world's first democracy, and led a band of ordinary citizens on a voyage of discovery that altered the course of history.

With Lords of the Sea, renowned archaeologist John R. Hale presents, for the first time, the definitive history of the epic battles, the fearsome ships, and the men—from extraordinary leaders to seductive rogues—that established Athens' supremacy. With a scholar's insight and a storyteller's flair, Hale takes us on an unforgettable voyage with these heroes, their turbulent careers, and far-flung expeditions, bringing back to light a forgotten maritime empire and its majestic legacy.

Tony Perrottet

Using firsthand reports and little-known sources—including an actual Handbook for a Sports Coach used by the Greeks—The Naked Olympics creates a vivid picture of an extravaganza performed before as many as forty thousand people, featuring contests as timeless as the javelin throw and as exotic as the chariot race. 

Peeling away the layers of myth, Perrottet lays bare the ancient sporting experience—including the round-the-clock revelry inside the tents of the Olympic Village, the all-male nude workouts under the statue of Eros, and history’s first corruption scandals involving athletes. 

Featuring cameos by sports enthusiasts Plato, Socrates, and Herodotus, The Naked Olympics offers essential insight into today’s Games and an unforgettable guide to the world’s first and most influential athletic festival.

William J. Broad

A gripping modern-day detective story about the scientific quest to understand the Oracle of Delphi.  Like Walking the Bible, this fascinating book turns a modern eye on an enduring legend. The Oracle of Delphi was one of the most influential figures in ancient Greece. Human mistress of the god Apollo, she had the power to enter into ecstatic communion with him and deliver his prophesies to men. Thousands of years later, Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist William J. Broad follows a crew of enterprising researchers as they sift through the evidence of history, geology, and archaeology to reveal—as far as science is able—the source of her visions.

Peter Green

The long and bitter struggle between the great Persian Empire and the fledgling Greek states reached its high point with the extraordinary Greek victory at Salamis in 480 B.C. The astonishing sea battle banished forever the specter of Persian invasion and occupation. Peter Green brilliantly retells this historic moment, evoking the whole dramatic sweep of events that the Persian offensive set in motion. The massive Greek victory, despite the Greeks' inferior numbers, opened the way for the historic evolution of the Greek states in a climate of creativity, independence, and democracy, one that provided a model and an inspiration for centuries to come.

Steven Pressfield

Brilliant at war, a master of politics, and a charismatic lover, Alcibiades was Athens’ favorite son and the city’s greatest general.

A prodigal follower of Socrates, he embodied both the best and the worst of the Golden Age of Greece. A commander on both land and sea, he led his armies to victory after victory. 

But like the heroes in a great Greek tragedy, he was a victim of his own pride, arrogance, excess, and ambition. Accused of crimes against the state, he was banished from his beloved Athens, only to take up arms in the service of his former enemies.

For nearly three decades, Greece burned with war and Alcibiades helped bring victories to both sides — and ended up trusted by neither.

Narrated from death row by Alcibiades’ bodyguard and assassin, a man whose own love and loathing for his former commander mirrors the mixed emotions felt by all Athens, Tides of War tells an epic saga of an extraordinary century, a war that changed history, and a complex leader who seduced a nation.

Colleen McCullough

This is a masterful retelling of the story of the Trojan War adapted from Homer’s Illiad and other ancient sources.  This telling makes this gripping tale accessible to the modern reader while losing none of the drama and pathos of the original telling. The famous characters (Achillies, Hector, Priam, Helen, Agamemnon, Menalaus, etc) lose their demi-god status in this rendition but not their heroism or their fatal flaws. This book will have you on the edge of your seat from cover to cover. You will sail Homer’s “Wine Dark Sea” in these pages. You’ll sympathize with the kidnapped maiden, Brises, admire the doomed Hector, and wonder how the face of Helen could launch a thousand ships. These characters and their stories have fascinated people for almost 3000 years in all their glory, sacrifice, selfishness, and shame.