I found this very interesting I learned a lot about how life really was in ancient Greece and really enjoyed the authors writing style.

A both hilarious and informative guide to Ancient Greece. I love the way Garland provides his insight, along with decent facts that I surprisingly didn't know! Choosing to focus mostly in Athens and Sparta was definitely one of the better choices, and picking a small time period made things flow really well. The integration of Sparta as a contrast, showing not everywhere in Greece was the same, also helps with the narrative the author is creating. Fun and interesting!

Found this to be an enjoyable and informative read. It's not textbook-deep into Greek history, but it covers what's necessary to give context and paint a picture of this Athens 'we' are going to get lost in. Found it to be very descriptive, knowing what it was talking about, and that eternal little touch of humor throughout, in the slightly sartorial tone, made this an even more enjoyable journey. Perfect if you want to know more about Ancient Greece (say after watching movies like 300 and 300: Rise of an Empire) to put you further into that world

We all have read the stories about Ancient Greece. From the rise of Athens and Sparta to the Persian Wars and from King Leonidas and Themistokles to Alexander the Great. But imagine, if you went back in time to Ancient Greece and you had to start a new life there. How and Where would you live? What would you eat? How would you earn your livelihood? All these questions, and many more, will be answered in How to Survive in Ancient Greece in a mock survival guide for those who wish to live in Ancient Greece.

Throughout history, the focus has always been on kings and empires. There has been little focus on how the common people lived in any particular era. Set in the year 420 B.C, often considered the Golden Age of Classical Greece, How to Survive in Ancient Greece is a funny yet informative look at the life in ancient Greece. The author has covered several important aspects of Greek life, such as food, housing, gods, slavery, family, food and clothing, class/social structure, politics, religion. It covers even several less discussed aspects like entertainment, marriage, travel, crime, etc. Any aspect of life, which is you can think of, is covered in this book.

The book is written in a light and humorous style, explaining varied facts in a fun way. The author has done a great job when it comes to research, which in my opinion was top notch. The chapters are kept short to keep you interested.

However, the arrangements of the chapters felt a little disjointed and haphazard, which went randomly from say; houses to slavery to marriage. I wish the chapters had been grouped and arranged in some order. The book also lacked a comprehensive list of source materials for further reading.
Overall, This book is an exciting way to learn more about life in classical Athens. If you wish to learn more about history, even as a casual fan, you will enjoy this book.

Many thanks to the publishers' Pen & Sword and Netgalley for the ARC.

Wow! It's almost like the author takes the reader back in a time machine to ancient Greece. He describes all aspects of early Greek life. From the rich to the poor. Far from the romanticized notions of Greece as a good place to live, he explains the short life spans, the diseases, the lack of sanitation, the patriarchy, and on and on. Easy to read, easy to understand, and told in an engaging manner. I, for one, am sure glad that I did not live back then!

"How to Survive in Ancient Greece" is a very informative and funny reading.
The author has done a great job to give all details on life in ancient Greece. Certain parts of the book like those describing how was cultural life in Athens are really fascinating and seem very modern, even for our time. However, for other considerations such as short lifespan, the importance of diseases, male-female relationships, slavery and others, I will definitely not change today's life to go and live in ancient Greece.

I recommend this book to those who like history. They will definitely appreciate the fun way taken by the author to tell the everyday life in the Ancient Greece.

A brilliantly irreverent way to learn about life in Ancient Greece.

I'm a fully-fledged History and Mythology nerd so there was no real new information for me but it was a fun way to refresh the memory banks whilst I was stuck at home on lockdown. Written almost as a Tourist Guide to Ancient Greece for a far-flung traveller from the future, the pages read like a what not to do if you want to blend in guide!

Wonderful book, filled with so many tidbits of information about how everyday life is lived. Well wrillen, intelligent and articulate.
If you have even a smidgen of interest in ancient history you will assuredly enjoy this book.

This is such a fun book! I learned so much about ancient Greece. I really enjoyed that you learned how to live there, and what you could encounter if you were to be living in ancient Greece. It touches on so many aspects of life, and it never failed to bore me. I would highly recommend this book to anyone.

The publisher of this book, Pen & Sword, previously issued a book called How to Survive in Ancient Egypt.  I enjoyed that book so was delighted to have the opportunity to read the ARC of a book on surviving in Ancient Greece.  (See archive for a review of the Egypt title).


If you are interested in the subject, this book is a treasure trove.  Read about Athenian history and learn how the city was run.  Learn more about the religion, the family the system of slavery and more.  Find out how women were viewed by men, how children were treated and educated, where to shop, what a house looked like, jobs and more.  This book includes so many interesting sections.


If you are a person who enjoys imagining life in other eras, give this book a try.  I think that you will be fascinated.


Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this title in exchange for an honest review.

It was a fun way to learn about everyday life in Ancient Greece.
I enjoyed this well researched and interesting book that kept me hooked while learning a lot.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

This book talked about what daily life was like in Athens during the classical period (specifically in 420 BC). The author used a humorous tone but provided good, educational material. He covered war, work, family, food and clothing, class/social structure, politics, religion, entertainment, marriage, travel, crime, trials, slavery, medical practices, illness, and death. He talked about the differences in how men, women, and children were treated as well as the difference between slaves, poor, and rich. After talking about the different aspects of life, the author had pretend interviews with different types of people (teenage girl, widow, crime victim, politician, philosopher, etc.) talking about their life in ancient Athens. Overall, I'd recommend this entertaining way to learn more about daily life in classical Athens (and some about Sparta).

When wondering about ancient Greece most of what we know comes from the Grreks themselves. Interesting as this might be, it doesn't give much insight into what daily life was really like. What would you wear, what would you eat, how would you spend your day -- these are questions the book answers. By addressing the reader directly and by using an informal style throughout, Garland teaches and engages the reader. It's a wonderful book for classicists and those interested in Ancient Greece.

I received an advance reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

This was a fantastic read to ponder through!
Have you ever wondered about a time period and how people would have lived and survived? Well this book takes you through what days would have been like in ancient Greece and upon reading this, as a woman I don't think I would have survived long in that time period.

This book is humorous and stoked in historical information. Find out so many things you have forgotten from school and learn so many more too.

This is a different type of way of learning about ancient history and times in a fun, interesting and unique way!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book.

This was an enjoyable foray through Ancient Greece. Written as a bit of a travel guide for the erstwhile 21st century time traveller, Garland provides a whistle-stop account of what to expect upon arrival. It was easy to read and provided some interesting facts that I hadn't encountered before. However, it was a little disjointed and I could have done without the "interviews" with Athenians that concluded the book - it was a little twee.

This book would be good for a young adult reader looking to learn more about this period of history.

If you ever wondered if you would be able to survive in Ancient Greece, this is the answer! I don't think that I would have coped particularly well at all. After reading this I think I may have been mugged in the streets or rendered useless by being unable to cope with how dirty things were. Despite the fact I probably wouldn't survive, I loved learning about life in Ancient Greece and found it truly interesting.

This wasn't a heavy read and remained informative without becoming dull. Robert Garland gives us a guided tour on life for the Ancient Greeks. From clothing and appearance to work, health and hygiene to travel and religion. This has been perfectly created as half survival guide and half information book. It's refreshing escapism when you can't leave the house.

"How to Survive in Ancient Greece" was a fun, and funny, look at life in Ancient Greece. It's really well-written, and the humour has probably helped me remember a few things I probably would have forgotten otherwise. The very last section of the book could have been 10 times longer, and I'm kind of hoping that Mr Garland will write another book with more of this. Sadly, I learned that my chances of surviving are very slim... I think I'll just stay home and read this book again!

My thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for an advance copy to review. This review is entirely my own, unbiased, opinion.

How to Survive in Ancient Greece by Robert Garland is a lightly casual tour of the day to day existence in Classical Athens, specifically in the year 420 B.C. in the midst of what most consider the Golden Age of Classical Greece, a time when Athens and Sparta are at relative peace, Sophocles and Euripides are competing for the dramatic competitions, and Socrates is stirring up trouble. Were it not for the threat of plague, cholera, typhus; the constant odor of human waste, slavery, patriarchy, and class division, it’d be a wonderful time to be alive . . .

Garland opens up with a concise timeline of major events before and afterward, an explanation of why discussions of Classical “Greece” typically means Classical Athens, a brief dip into pertinent history (particularly the wars with Persia and Sparta, a description of the physicality of the city itself, and then some concise overviews of important aspects of Athenian life, such as the gods, slavery, commerce, etc.

Following the generalities are sections on Women and Family (relations between the genders, marriage, childbirth, child-rearing, etc.), Shopping, Homes, Food and Diet (what there is), Clothing (not a lot of options), Work (Athenians don’t care for it), Health (good luck), Relaxation and Entertainment (you’re out of luck women, save for those fun times preparing corpses for burials), the Military, Politics and Law, Lives of the Rich, Poor, and Enslaved (hint: it’s better to be the first of those), and Religion. Garland then wraps up with some imagined monologues by individuals representing various societal niches, such as slave, a merchant, a mugging victim, and others.

As noted, this is a light and casual book, as Garland says in his intro, it isn’t a “conventional” work of history and a far cry from an academic tome. If you’ve read much Classical history, there will be little new to you, though a few nuggets will probably be so thanks to their specificity. For instance, I didn’t know or didn’t recall the nearly 200 sanctuaries of Asclepius (think health clinics) or some of the specifics re crime and punishment. But for someone who hasn’t read much on the time period, someone who has a basic curiosity about how people lived back then, or for younger readers/students who have matured past the children’s book versions of these sorts of histories, How to Survive in Ancient Greece offers up a highly readable and informative on a basic level introduction to that life, one bolstered by a number of photographs and illustrations/maps. As for the monologues at the end, though they are a little too slangy for my personal liking, they do bring some of the facts home a bit more intimately. I did wish Garland had provided a “For Further Reading” list at the end (he does offer up a glossary of important terms), but that’s a minor quibble. Recommended for the casually interested who aren’t looking for a lot of detail or analysis but more for a quick, maybe even cursory, outline of day to day existence.

I did not enjoy this book much, there is imagination, yes imagination has its beauty but while I went through the introduction the author asks the readers to imagine a specific setting and then go forward reading, which is not impressive, I have read many fiction and nonfiction about Ancient Greece they were always very interesting, this however did not catch my interest. A very slow read for me. The maps and illustrations were good.

I really really enjoyed this. I barely know anything about ancient Greece, which I think helped me enjoying this book because a lot of it seemed simplified. What I'm saying is that it was prefect for me, but I am not sure someone who knows a lot about Ancient Greece would enjoy.

The chapters were well divided and a perfect length to keep you interested but not too long and too detailed that you lose focus.

Overall the reason why I am not giving it five stars is only because I don't like seeing very unclear sources the author got their information from. Maybe it's just because this is an ARC and those haven't been finalized yet?