Infamy and Revolt – The Rise of the National Problem in Early Modern Greek Thought

This is a fascinating book, casting light upon a topic that we think we know well, and thereby showing us that perhaps we do not know it as well as we thought. The Greek Revolution of 1821 is familiar to anyone who teaches the survey histories of modern Europe, but it is not usually placed into the context in which Kostantaras situates it. This work illuminates the native roots of the movement for Greek independence, demonstrating that it was not merely "exposure to Western ideas" that provided Greeks with the ideas about selfhood and identity that shaped their views of the "national problem." In so doing, Kostantaras helps bridge significant gaps between early modern and modern history in Southeastern Europe, and challenges what we thought we knew about connections between Western and Southeastern Europe in both periods. In addition, his work familiarizes scholars for whom Greek texts are not readily accessible with a significant body of ideas ranging from the fall of Constantinople to the first decades of the nineteenth century. Scholars of the Balkans, and students of nationalism in general, will find this a useful and stimulating study. -- Hugh L. Agnew, associate professor of History and International Affairs, and Associate Dean for Faculty and Student Affairs, Elliott School of International Affairs, The George Washington University This book excellently demonstrates the power and ramifications of knowledge (and memory) for patterning societies and historical events. The Greek 'logioi,' the knowledge-carrying 'men of letters,'contributed ideational support for the reinvention and revival of the Greek nation in the 1800s. Ultimately, as these pages show, societies advance, idea-driven and knowledge-based. -- David F. J. Campbell, Lecturer, Institut fur Politikwissenschaft, University of Vienna

Historians have long speculated on the role played by the Enlightenment in the rise of nationalism in Eastern Europe and the Balkans. This book offers a fresh perspective on this subject through an examination of the Greek Enlightenment, its aspirations, and its relationship to the larger European Republic of Letters.Historians have long speculated on the role played by the Enlightenment in the rise of nationalism in Eastern Europe and the Balkans. The present volume offers a new perspective on this subject through an examination of the Greek Enlightenment, its aspirations, and its relationship to the larger European Republic of Letters. Scholars of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Europe will gain access in these pages to rare and in some cases never before translated works from the time period; works that offer fresh and far-reaching insights into the nature, origin and development of nationalist movements.