17 July 2004

Book on Cyprus
 
My personal library contains a number of books on Cyprus, covering different subjects related to the island.  There are, of course, the heavily photographed volumes, intended primarily to attract tourists or to remind one-time visitors of their travel experiences.  Others are more substantive, dealing with the history or politics of the island.  My personal favourite is Sir David Hunt's Footprints in Cyprus: An Illustrated History.
 

It is a collection of chapters written by respected scholars taking us through the various stages in Cyprus' history, from prehistoric times to the present political division and stalemate.  The writing is, however, quite accessible to a lay readership.  Virtually every page carries beautiful photographs worth lingering over at leisure.  Sadly, many of the places shown are on the north side of the Green Line and thus not easily reached from the south.  Footprints was first published in 1982 and then updated in 1990.  I purchased my own copy at a bookstore in Limassol, Cyprus, in 1995.
 
Another book, History of Cyprus, by Cleanthis P. Georgiades, covers essentially the same ground, but it is more tendentious (Greek nationalist), less polished, and less well (if at all) edited.  I'd stick with Footprints.

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