How to Fit All of Ancient Greece in an Elevator

Theodore Papakostas

£16.99

We send all orders via Royal Mail: within the UK, choose from 1st Class, 2nd Class or Special Delivery; for the rest of the world, International Standard or International Tracked. Delivery and packaging charges are calculated automatically at the checkout.

To collect orders in person from the Bookshop, choose Click and Collect at the checkout.


HarperCollins Publishers
1 August 2024
ISBN: 9780008596064
Hardback
288 pages

From the publisher

The New International Bestseller

'Irresistibly fascinating' MARIE CLAIRE GREECE

'Essential' VICTORIA HISLOP

'Brilliantly conceived' PAUL CARTLEDGE

An enormous bestseller in Greece, this is a bold, witty retelling of the story of Ancient Greece by a rising star in archaeology

Two strangers meet in a trapped elevator. One is an archaeologist, the other isn’t. A simple question, ‘What do you do?’, becomes the springboard for a dialogue that weaves a fascinating tale.

Archaeologist Theodore Papakostas takes us on a spectacularly iconoclastic and hugely engrossing journey through ancient Greece, from its beginnings in prehistory to its end. Marvelling at the exalted moments in history as well as the more mundane, Papakostas introduces the reader to countless fascinating stories about the cradle of western civilisation – many of which upend received wisdom about the empire as well as about archaeology itself. Along the way, he settles questions such as: What did a Minoan princess pack for a trip to Egypt? How did a raunchy dance lead to the birth of Democracy? Why did Heraclitus suggest that Homer should be slapped?

A whistle-stop tour through three hundred years of Greek history, How to Fit All of Ancient Greece in an Elevator is an unforgettable love letter to the treasures we’ve inherited from the ancient world, as well as to those who have helped us unearth them.