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Stathis N. Kalyvas, Modern Greece: What Everyone Needs to Know. New York: Oxford University Press. 2015. Pp. xii + 242. Cloth $16.95.
Stathis Kalyvas is the Arnold Wolfers Professor of Political Science at Yale University. He is also known to Greek audiences for his columns in Sunday papers. This book was published around the time of the electoral victory of SYRIZA (Euvao-mapoc; tqc; PiZoonaotiK^i Apiotepdc;, Coalition of Radical Left) in January 2015 and consequently only marginally addresses the rise of SYRIZA or its politics. The author's treatment of Golden Dawn is equally superficial.
The author describes his book as an "essay of historical interpretation" rather than a "comprehensive and detailed history book" (xi). The book attempts to show how the present crisis fits in the context of Modern Greek history. In seven brief chapters, it discusses nearly 200 years of postindependence Greek history. Subheadings divide each chapter with titles like "How Was the New State Built," "What Was the Anatolian Disaster," and "What Caused the 1967 Coup." Most footnotes refer to secondary sources. The book has no bibliography other than some references presented as "Suggestions for Further Reading."
Given the format of the book, Kalyvas's work is replete with generalizations about Greek politics, society, and foreign policy that may be adequate for a reader unfamiliar with Greece, but not for the specialist. Some of these generalizations are likely to reinforce stereotypes about Greece rather than revise them. The author attempts to make sense of Modern Greek history along broad themes, such as nationalism, state building, modernization, populism, democracy, and autocracy. He applies contemporary terminology, such as "failed states" (38), to explain past events and current problems. According to the author, Greece is a largely successful late modernizer, whose history is characterized by almost epic disasters of which the 2009 crisis is the...