When does Greek history begin? With the Mycenaean palaces? With Homer? Or perhaps only with the time of Herodotus, the father of historiography? Klaus Bringmann sheds light on each phase of early Greek history and creates an impressive portrait of the era that spans from the 12th to the 5th century BC. Excitingly and vividly, Klaus Bringmann describes the world of early Greece with its hundreds of tribal communities and city-states. He explains their unifying elements - language, migration and colonization movements, art, culture, and religion - emphasizes the significance of the sea for the Greeks, the influential role of the nobility in politics and culture, but also highlights the necessity of curbing the greed for power and ruthlessness of the ruling class through the establishment of legal systems and state structures. Finally.