Mycenaean Greece, The Trojan Legacy

Mycenaean Greece: The Trojan Legacy plunges readers into the world behind Homer's legends—the real Bronze Age civilization of warrior-kings, golden masks, monumental tombs, and far-reaching trade networks. From the rise of fortified citadels to the opulent burials of Mycenae's elite, this book uncovers how a rugged landscape, ancestral memory, and the pursuit of prestige forged the first great Greek kingdoms. Through archaeology, material culture, and newly interpreted evidence, the narrative reconstructs a society driven by warfare, diplomacy, craft specialization, and the powerful ideology that later echoed through the Iliad and Odyssey. Exploring the cultural foundations that set the stage for the Trojan War, this work reveals a world of fierce rivalries, international connections, and evolving social hierarchies that shaped the identity of early Greece. Readers will encounter the warriors, artisans, priests, and rulers who carved their legacy into stone and gold long before Classical Greece rose to greatness. Richly detailed yet cinematic in tone, Mycenaean Greece: The Trojan Legacy offers an authoritative and compelling journey into the civilization that stood at the boundary between myth and history.