The Greek War of Independence

July 30, 2001
In 1821, Greek revolutionaries began a War of Independence fueled by longstanding grievances against their Turkish occupiers and Enlightenment ideals. In 1833, Greece became the first nation-state to win its independence from the Ottoman Empire, the centuries-old nemesis of Christian Europe. This volume is former Oxford classics scholar Brewer's detailed narrative of this achievement. Brewer effectively employs historical analogies to place the struggle within an understandable context. For example, he likens the popular support of Europeans, if not their governments, for the Greek struggle to 20th-century support during the Spanish Civil War, and he describes the effect on European public opinion of a vivid painting by Delacroix, based on the Turkish capture and pillaging of Mesolongi, a Greek fortress town, as similar to that of Vietnam War–era photographs that aroused antiwar passions. Brewer comprehensively describes the military campaigns, but he is most engaging when examining the internal and external political factors that influenced the war's outcome. Both the difficulties in forging a coherent Greek effort (despite deep divisions among Greek factions) and the complex set of historical relationships that informed the political stances of European governments are set out in close detail. The latter factor was pivotal, as it was the joint intervention of England, France and Russia that finally forced the Ottomans to accept Greek independence. At times, the details are too dense; although it is no fault of Brewer's, the betrayals, massacres, impalements, decapitations and mutual depredations of the combatants will leave readers profoundly depressed. Nonetheless, Brewer's effort will be worthwhile for those interested in European history. Illus. and maps.

August 3, 2001
In his first book, Brewer, a former Oxford classics scholar, has produced a meticulously researched, scholarly, yet engaging account of the brutal struggle of the Greeks to win independence from the Ottoman Turks. Inspired by the American, French, and Latin American revolutions and the recent Napoleonic victories, the Greek War continued for 12 years, from 1821 to1833; even then, the Turks capitulated only after pressure from foreign powers. Although he provides exhaustive historical detail, Brewer manages to add a great deal of humanity to this work, not only in his depiction of the various personalities involved but also through vivid description of the atrocities committed by both sides. Brewer also gives good background on the declining Ottoman Empire, and although sympathetic to the Greek cause, he does give credit to the Turks and blame to the Greeks as events warranted. All in all, an excellent, comprehensive, well-documented undertaking; recommended for academic and large public libraries. Ruth K. Baacke, Highland Mills, NY

Copyright 2001 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2001
Just as opposition to the Vietnam War was a rallying cry for left-wingers in Europe and the U.S. in the 1960s and 1970s, support for the Greek struggle for independence was a sacred cause for liberals in the 1820s. For romantics such as Byron and Shelley, this was a morality play in which the heirs of Pericles, Socrates, and Plato sought to restore their greatness while shrugging off the shackles of Turkish "barbarism." Brewer, a former classics scholar, is a gifted writer who tells the story of this brutal struggle with passion and insight into the human costs of efforts to forge a great national movement. At times, however, Brewer seems too willing to buy into the heroic aspects of the conflict; he overstates the oppressive aspects of Ottoman rule and minimizes the savagery and power lust of many of the Greek "freedom fighters." Still, this is a generally accurate and stirring account of a movement that captured the hopes of a generation of intellectuals and reshaped the destiny of the peoples of the eastern Mediterranean.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2001, American Library Association.)