The Eve of the Greek Revival. British Travellers' Perceptions of Early Nineteenth-Century Greece.

Aus der Bibliothek von Prof. Wolfgang Haase, langj�igem Herausgeber der ANRW und des International Journal of the Classical Tradition (IJCT) / From the library of Prof. Wolfgang Haase, long-time editor of ANRW and the International Journal of the Classical Tradition (IJCT). - Ein gutes und sauberes Exemplar ohne Anstreichungen / a good and clean copy without markings. - When the Napoleonic Wars closed much of Europe to British travellers, young Grand Tourists extended their horizons to Greece, then part of the Ottoman Empire. Though many of the young travellers had a special interest in Greek antiquities and topography, at least as many were interested in the contemporary scene, with a Romantic love of antiquity infecting their interpretation of Turkish oppression and Greek servitude. Travellers like William Gell, Lord Byron, Edward Dodwell, F.S.N. Douglas, W.M. Leake, and many others wrote detailed accounts of their travels. In this book Helen Angelomatis-Tsougarakis makes systematic use of these writings to build up a detailed portrait of early nineteenth-century Greece through the eyes of its visitors. The emphasis is on modern Greece and its inhabitants, rather than on archaeological and topographical research, and we see the travellers� views about the institutions and the peoples who lived in Greece, the state of the people�s education and culture, and on the major topic of the economy. The educational, social and ideological background of the travellers is taken into account to allow for their particular viewpoints on contemporary Greece, and their observations are placed alongside evidence from non-British travellers and contemporary Greek sources. The result is an illuminating interpretation of Greece during the crucial period just before the Greek War of Independence (1821-9) and the establishment of the modern Greek state. Of special value to students of modern Greek history, the book also gives a fascinating insight into the preoccupations of travel writers of the period. / CONTENTS List of maps and tables Abbreviations Glossary Preface 1 BRITISH TRAVELLERS IN GREECE, 1800-21 2 THE COUNTRY Mountains, plains, islands Communications and road network The demographical evidence Urban and rural settlements Migratory movements 3 THE INSTITUTIONS AND THE PEOPLES The institutions The Greeks The Turks The Albanians Other ethnic groups 4 EDUCATION AND CULTURE 5 THE ECONOMY Land tenure and the expansion of �tliks Regular taxation, extraordinary impositions, and extortions Currency circulation. Problems and practices Prices and wages The rising importance of the Greek commerce Stock-raising. The asset of the mountainous areas The frail expansion and lost case of Greek manufacture The rise and fall of the Greek merchant marine 6 CONCLUSIONS. ISBN 9780415034821