Tracing the efforts of philosophers to appropriate the issues opened up by tragedy as a literary form, Dennis Schmidt makes the argument that in the struggle to come to terms with the issues raised by tragedy, new and progressive avenues for addressing the questions of ethic life have come to the fore.
Much has been written about the conditions that made possible Hitler's rise and the Nazi takeover of Germany, but when we tell the story of the National Socialist Party, should we not also speak of Julius Caesar and Pericles? Greeks, Romans, Germans argues that to fully understand the racist, violent end of the Nazi regime, we must examine its appropriation of the heroes and lessons of the ancient world. When Hitler told the assembled masses that they were a people with no past, he meant that they had no past following their humiliation in World War I of which to be proud. The Nazis' constant use of classical antiquity—in official speeches, film, state architecture, the press, and state-sponsored festivities—conferred on them the prestige and heritage of Greece and Rome that the modern German people so desperately needed. At the same time, the lessons of antiquity served as a warning: Greece and Rome fell because they were incapable of protecting the purity of their blood against mixing and infiltration. To regain their rightful place in the world, the Nazis had to make all-out war on Germany's enemies, within and without.
A gripping story of struggle and triumph in Greece in 1940s concentrating on three critical phases of Greek history: The war against the Italians and Germans; the national resistance, and the civil war that followed. Stassinopoulos fought in the heroic resistance against the fascist invaders and vividly recounts the sacrifice, honor, and successes of the Greek armed forces and the Greek guerrillas drew the admiration of the free world and kindled hope for Allied powers victory.
Tying Greece to the West: US-West German-Greek Relations 1949-74 examines the reconstruction of Greece in the post-war era and how the Greek foreign economic and political relations with the United States and West Germany developedespecially the Greek-West German trade and the American and West German financial and aid policy. Furthermore, it investigates what impact Greek foreign relations had on the domestic development, particularly in relation to the establishment of the dictatorship in 1967the so-called Colonels Regime. The Second World War disrupted the Greek economy, polarized politics and left Greece in a state of severe economic and social disorder. The Axis occupation was followed by civil war with devastating consequences and the Greek Civil War was one immediate reason for the declaration of the Truman Doctrine in 1947. The Truman Doctrine made Greece subject to the most costly overseas American aid program ever in peace time. However, gradually, West Germany became the b
This book explores Greek collaboration with the Nazis during the Axis occupation of Greece in the Second World War, a topic that continues to be one of the biggest taboos in Greek society. It tells the mostly unknown story of the Greek quislings, an heterogeneous amalgam of fascists, germanophiles, anti-Semites, criminals and opportunists, but also of genuine patriots and ordinary citizens. It provides a clear picture on the Axis-held puppet governments in Athens and the court of radical Greek Nazi political organizations that supported them. It also examines specific aspects of collaboration, from the issuing of German-sponsored propaganda to the creation of paramilitary units to fight along the Wehrmacht, from the intrigues within the collaborationist government to the questionable economic profiteering of some locals. The book explains why so many Greeks chose to ally themselves with the enemy instead of choosing Resistance and reveals the most occult secrets of Greece.
Why did Greek tragedy and "the tragic" come to be seen as essential to conceptions of modernity? And how has this belief affected modern understandings of Greek drama? In Genealogy of the Tragic, Joshua Billings answers these and related questions by tracing the emergence of the modern theory of the tragic, which was first developed around 1800 by thinkers associated with German Idealism. The book argues that the idea of the tragic arose in response to a new consciousness of history in the late eighteenth century, which spurred theorists to see Greek tragedy as both a unique, historically remote form and a timeless literary genre full of meaning for the present. The book offers a new interpretation of the theories of Schiller, Schelling, Hegel, Hölderlin, and others, as mediations between these historicizing and universalizing impulses, and shows the roots of their approaches in earlier discussions of Greek tragedy in Germany, France, and England. By examining eighteenth-century readings of tragedy and the interactions between idealist thinkers in detail, Genealogy of the Tragic offers the most comprehensive historical account of the tragic to date, as well as the fullest explanation of why and how the idea was used to make sense of modernity. The book argues that idealist theories remain fundamental to contemporary interpretations of Greek tragedy, and calls for a renewed engagement with philosophical questions in criticism of tragedy.
An NPR Book of the Year A Crime Reads Best Crime Book of 2018 A vicious murder puts Bernie Gunther on the trail of World War 2 criminals in Greece in this riveting historical thriller in Philip Kerr's New York Times bestselling series. Munich, 1956. Bernie Gunther has a new name, a chip on his shoulder, and a dead-end career when an old friend arrives to repay a debt and encourages "Christoph Ganz" to take a job as a claims adjuster in a major German insurance company with a client in Athens, Greece. Under the cover of his new identity, Bernie begins to investigate a claim by Siegfried Witzel, a brutish former Wehrmacht soldier who served in Greece during the war. Witzel's claimed losses are large , and, even worse, they may be the stolen spoils of Greek Jews deported to Auschwitz. But when Bernie tries to confront Witzel, he finds that someone else has gotten to him first, leaving a corpse in his place. Enter Lieutenant Leventis, who recognizes in this case the highly grotesque style of a killer he investigated during the height of the war. Back then, a young Leventis suspected an S.S. officer whose connection to the German government made him untouchable. He's kept that man's name in his memory all these years, waiting for his second chance at justice... Working together, Leventis and Bernie hope to put their cases--new and old--to bed. But there's a much more sinister truth to acknowledge: A killer has returned to Athens...one who may have never left.
In this powerful and engaging historical narrative, decorated combat veteran and critically acclaimed author Ronald J. Drez unfolds the astounding tale of the arduous Greek Resistance against the Axis Powers in World War II. Along with Great Britain, Greece was the only country to stand against the Pact of Steel and the dreaded Nazi and Fascist regimes of Hitler and Mussolini. Although Greece technically fell to Germany in 1941, the indomitable spirit and courage of the Greek people never did. Indeed, the Nazis feared the fierce Greek Resistance fighters so much that Hitler was never able to seize control of any Greek land. In this meticulously researched volume, Drez has succeeded in shining a light into one of the most overlooked aspects in the great annals of World War II history. Packed with personal testimony and many rare photographs and illustrations, Heroes Fight Like Greeks is an indisputably important report on one of the most harrowing World War II stories. Foreword by Douglas Brinkley
Between 1941 and 1944, the Germans and the Italians imposed a brutal occupation of Greece. This, as well as the outbreak of famine, drove many Greeks to join a variety of resistance movements in the mountains. The British government anticipated the German occupation of Europe and created the Special Operations Executive (SOE). One directorate of the SOE was responsible for partisan activity in the mountains and another directorate focused on encouraging espionage and sabotage in Greek cities. Over 3000 Greeks and British operated espionage networks that made a significant contribution to the war effort in the Mediterranean. Unfortunately the work of the spy and saboteur working in the shadows remained classified until the end of the twentieth century. The release of SOE documents in the twenty-first century provides an amazing insight into how intelligence operations were a critical part of the Allied victory of the Second World War. The aim of the book is to bring to life the stories of the ghosts of the shadow war.