Greek War of Independence: The Struggle for Freedom from Ottoman Oppression and the Birth of the Modern Greek Nation

The Greek War of Independence offers an authoritative account — told in gripping detail — of the fight to end four centuries of brutal Ottoman rule over Greece. Fought over twelve bloody years between 1821 and 1833, the Greek revolution captured the imagination of the Romantic Age, inspiring painters, poets and patriots the world over to celebrate the Greek cause and join the fight. For nearly four hundred years the Ottoman Turks governed Greece, subjecting the country to crushing and arbitrary tax burdens and its peasants to serfdom.; the glories of the ancient past were gone, and under Turkish rule Greece was poor and backward. But inspired by the examples of the American and French revolutions, Napoleon’s victories, and the Latin American wars of liberation, the Greek people rose up against their Turkish masters in 1821. For twelve brutal years – years of terrible violence and bloody massacre – the Greeks and the foreign volunteers who flocked to their cause fought until independence was won in 1833.

David Brewer has captured it brilliantly, from the ground up – the heroes and villains, the victories, and tragic defeats. Greece was, as Byron said, a land with a special destiny: "Freedom’s home, or Glory’s grave."