Greek Islands
-- The Sunday Times
Now in its 9th edition, Greek Islands was the very first Cadogan guide and it remains a bestseller on both sides of the Atlantic. Now fully redesigned, this new edition contains the most up-to-the-minute practical information and listings, along with color photographs and detailed maps – everything you need for your very own island adventure. The author Dana Facaros, who is half-Greek, has over two decades of Greek travel experience to share, all of which will quickly have you booking the next flight to this idyllic collection of islands Packed with information on each of the seven major island groups, the guide celebrates the diversity of the islands, ranging from the cocktail bars and glamorous beaches of Mykonos to the quiet medieval monasteries of Patmos. The history and culture of the islands are, of course, given the usual wry and informed Cadogan treatment.
Excerpt: The World’s Oldest Computer
Engineers often wonder why, if those ancient Greeks were so clever, poncing about in sheets and holding symposiums- how come they never applied all their mathematical and scientific smarts to anything practical? The answer, of course, is that they did, and a clue at just how advanced they were was provided by the accidental discovery, in 1900, of a Roman ship off the coast of the little island of Antikythera that went down on the 22nd day of the ancient Greek month of Mounichon, in the first year of the 180th Olympiad (5 May, 59 bc). It was sailing from the island of Rhodes, laden with booty for Rome. Now you might ask: how is it that anyone could even begin to know the precise date of a 2,000-year-old shipwreck? Pinpointing even the century of finds is more often than not just an archaeological guessing game. The answer is that part of the booty from Rhodes included the world’s first computer, and its timekeeping mechanism was stopped forever when the ship went down. ...click here to read the rest
Fantastic, /5
This book has an excellent overview of most of the Greek Islands as well as having a good section on Athens. I found that most of the recommended places to stay were very expensive-better deals can be found on line- but the information for each of the islands was comprehensive. The section of "further reading" revealed many gems for the traveller to Greece.
Dana Facaros and Michael Pauls can be reached at: michel.pauls@wanadoo.fr
