Roderick Beaton re-examines Lord Byron's life and writing through the long trajectory of his relationship with Greece. Beginning with the poet's youthful travels in 1809–1811, Byron's War traces his years of fame in London and self-imposed exile in Italy, that culminated in the decision to devote himself to the cause of Greek independence. Then comes Byron's dramatic self-transformation, while in Cephalonia, from Romantic rebel to 'new statesman', subordinating himself for the first time to a defined, political cause, in order to begin laying the foundations, during his 'hundred days' at Missolonghi, for a new kind of polity in Europe – that of the nation-state as we know it today. Byron's War draws extensively on Greek historical sources and other unpublished documents to tell an individual story that also offers a new understanding of the significance that Greece had for Byron, and of Byron's contribution to the origin of the present-day Greek state.
• Reinterprets the often-told story of Byron's life in a completely new way • Offers radically new readings of some of Byron's most famous works as well as drawing on unpublished historical documents • Provides a fresh perspective on the post-2010 economic and social crisis in Greece, tracing fault lines that go back to the 1820s
Contents
Prologue; Part I. The Rebel Imagination (1809–1816): 1. Land of lost gods…; 2. …and modern monsters; Part II. The Road to Revolution (1816–1823): 3. Reluctant Radical; 4. 'Prophet of a noble contest'; 5. Death by water, transfiguration by fire; 6. The deformed transformed; Part III. Greece: 'Tis the Cause Makes All' (July–December 1823): 7. Preparations for battle; 8. Wavering; 9. The new statesman; Part IV. Missolonghi: The Hundred Days (January–April 1824): 10. 'Political economy'; 11. Confronting the warlords; 12. Pyrrhic victory; Epilogue; Notes; Bibliography; Index.
Reviews
Advance praise: 'Byron's War is a superb portrait of a complex personality. Drawing upon new archival research into the bitter civil wars between rival revolutionary factions, Beaton has constructed a gripping narrative of Byron's self-transformation from Philhellene to a pragmatic and courageous politicker. Far from playing at soldiers or sentimentalising the klephts, Byron was a moderniser and internationalist who saw the Greek revolution as a crucible whose future constitution might inspire the transformation of Europe.' Caroline Franklin, Swansea University
Advance praise: 'There is nothing else like this book, for Beaton stands alone in his knowledge not just of the English and Greek sources, but also the English and Greek contemporary context. Byron's War changes our understanding of what Byron was trying to do in Greece, and will be the starting point for all subsequent discussions of the topic.' David Roessel, The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey
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