Written by two British historians, this handy book avoids being pedantic and is wonderfully reader-friendly. The ancient history section will be familiar to almost everyone who has thought of traveling to Greece, with few or no surprises. But the lucid account of modern Greece is hard to beat - clear, concise, and (usually) unbiased.

If you've ever wanted to grasp the rudiments of the Cyprus Question, understand why the Greek king was not Greek, or delve into the turbulent love/loathe relationships between Greece and other nations, this book is the place to begin.

This is not a book with "everything" about Greece - readers looking for the information about a tourist-important but historically minor island such as Mykonos will be disappointed. Information on archaeological sites is limited only to the impact of historical events which occured at them, if any.

Divided into two parts, Part One covers early Greece to Byzantium and Part Two tackles Greece from 1453 to the twentieth century. The authors' labors are also divided, with Boatswain covering the earlier history of Greece and Nicolson bringing the reader from medieval times to the present.

Maps include Prehistoric and Classical Greece, Alexander's Route, Byzantine Greece after AD 1204, Modern Greece and the Aegean, the Expansion of Greece since 1832, and the Paris Peace Conference. There's also a suggested reading list for those who want to delve further into Greek history.

A Traveller's History of Greece is part of the popular "Traveller's History" series published by Interlink. Other volumes include China, India, Japan, Ireland, and France.