How the Greeks came of age

Two remarkable books on Greek history reveal that soft power preserved the Greeks as a nation during periods when they failed at political unity

The Greeks: A Global History, by Roderick Beaton

The Greek Revolution: 1821 and the Making of Modern Europe by Mark Mazower

We are travelling through a shower of Greek anniversaries, triumphant and calamitous. Last year marked the 25th centenary of the Battle of Salamis, when 300 Greek warships defeated a Persian armada four times larger and ended the Per…