This is the story of nation on the move. It is a story which must, becouse it casts a fresh image of an extraordinary people, be studied by anyone who is curious about the sources of European culture, arts, and sciences.
The spread of Greek civilization through Europe and into Africa and the Near East began long before the classical period, long after Troy, Mycenae, and Knossos had fallen. This study gives an archaeologist’s view of one of the most important periods of European history, describing how, out of a time of reduced population and comparative penury, the Greeks set their sails north, south, east, and west to plant trading posts and colonies, to reap whatever harvest of materials and expertise the barbarian could offer, and to disseminate the benefits of their own rapidly developing and brilliant civilization.