The Will of Zeus

This history of Greece spans the beginnings of the polis to the Alexandrian cosmopolis, covering leaders from Socrates to Alexander the Great himself.

Review: "For anyone passionately interested in the ancient Greek world (and this today the increasing numbers of tourists who find that Greece touches some inner chord), is a book that gives significance to not only Greek culture and history, but vitality to the men who made her what she was, and understanding of the intricate interweaving of and history. Modern archaeology has brought these truths to heightened appreciation. very choice of a title, Stringfellow Barr has supplied a clue to his approach, and followed it up with the record of how this unique interrelationship not only came into but survived. His story goes back to pre-history -- and forward to the death of . The highpoints of chronological history are here; the great figures not only in this history, but in philosophy, drama, the arts and architecture -- they too are here. One "" oneself absorbed in the progress -- disturbed by the retrogressions -- as Greece, the Athens, through Sparta, through Corinth, through successive leagues embracing groups and goals, developed those priceless gifts of civilization which have kept a live force in modern history. Wherever possible, he has chosen to let the Greeks for themselves: Homer, Hesiod, Sappho, Lycurgus, Solon, Herodotus, Thucydides, the great dramatists, the great political figures -- all have made their words tell the story. This is no ""quickie"" but a book which, carefully studied, will give depth to understanding, and a sense of having shared --with his students -- the experience of reliving the story of Greece." - Kirkus Review October 1961