John Thorley

Somebody could say that this book is just a summary

in #Italy, everybody routinely quotes #Athens and #democracy- having roughly what they remember from high school

I would assume that reading different interpretations, ancient and modern, an aggregate of thousands of pages, isn't a pre-requisite to get inspired by or refer to prior examples

and I too, despite all my readings on cultures, organizations, history since I was a kid (my first self-purchased books at 9 were on archeology and cultures)...

...keep finding new perspectives that sometimes provide just funny cameos, sometimes help to ask questions in a different way

but at least a modicum of overview could be useful

so, I went through to find something could be a kind of "Wikipedia+" on this subject, as many books that I read in libraries or purchased since I was a teenager, when I decided to buy not just what I liked, abut also what could be "shareble" to quickly have a level playing field

what is a "wikipedia+"? it is a books that is a digest, but also an entry point toward further material- so, like a Wikipedia article, but roughly around 100 pages long (or less, if feasible)- a meta-book (a book about books)

yes, that was the concept about my own mini-books published since 2012 (and the predecessor e-zine on change 2003-2005, where the target was 20-40 pages, as it was originally a quarterly)

but when looking for "wikipedia+" books, I look for something focused on a single theme (yes, the "PUF Que sais-je?" model was something I got used to while in high school- my approach was political action&march, and after each march... dig into a library on whatever came through my mind, or to get deeper into what was just hinted at school)

this short book, while sometimes is a little bit too "dry", gives both a quick overview (78 pages, plus maps, plus Trivial Pursuit-style tables on "Kleisthenic tribes, trittyes, demes and Council members" and "Ostracisms") and a commented bibliography

[Review released on 2020-06-11]… (mehr)