Hellenistic Civilization

Rating:
Summary: The best book on the Hellenistic Age.
Review: I highly recommed this book to anyone interested in the hellenistic age or in antiquity in general. Often labelled as a "transitional period" between the classical age of the greek city-states and the roman period, the hellenistic age is here portrayed as one of the most culturally productive ages ever, a view shared by most modern historians. The book stresses the new features of the age as well as the obvious continuity with the past. The text is generally well written and very informative. Chamoux also manages to describe the complex events of the period very well. It should be added that this book only has a few illustrations. However, in my view, the wealth of information provided more than makes up for this (for a perfect companion to this book, see Pollit's "Art in the Hellenistic Age").