A History of Crete

‘When you next go to Crete, take Moorey’s book for its broad sweep’
Times Literary Supplement

‘A fascinating journey through Cretan history, from its mythological past to its tourist-crowded present.’
Mick Reed

‘Chris Moorey’s A History of Crete effectively traces the history of Crete from antiquity to the present for a general audience.’
Journal of Modern Greek Studies

‘Splendid stuff!’
Quad Magazine, Oxford University

Known by the Greeks as ‘Megalónisos’, the ‘Great Island’, Crete has been of paramount strategic importance for thousands of years thanks to its location close to the junction of three continents and the heart of the eastern Mediterranean. The island has been ruled for much of its history by foreign invaders – Mycenaeans, Dorians, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Venetians, Ottoman Turks and, briefly, the Third Reich – and thus much of its past has revolved around how the Cretans themselves, fierce lovers of freedom, have interacted with their conquerors and the influence of foreign rule on their culture.

Two periods at either end of these 3000 years of domination form an intriguing contrast: the dazzling apogee of the Minoan civilisation and the brief period of autonomy before union with Greece at the beginning of the twentieth century.

A History of Crete is an engaging, lively account of Crete from the Stone Age to the present day.

CHRIS MOOREY is a writer and historian, and a retired teacher. He attended St Catherine’s College, Oxford and the University of Surrey, and has lived in Crete for over twenty years. He is the author of several books, including A Glimpse of Heaven.