Scholars, Travels, Archives: Greek History and Culture through the British School at Athens (BSA Studies)

The British School at Athens is renowned for its discoveries in Bronze Age and Classical archaeology. This book reveals for the first time that in parallel with this story of archaeology and the classics, another theme runs persistently through the history of the School from its foundation in 1886. This is the contribution of British scholars to the study of Byzantine and modern Greek culture, art and architecture, anthropology, geography, folklore, history and language. Richly illustrated with material from the School's photographic archive, the book sets out the achievements of scholars such as R. M. Dawkins, F. W. Hasluck and A. J. B. Wace. Others whose achievements are assessed include the great Scottish historian George Finlay and the topographer Colonel Leake. The book explores also the rich holdings in Byzantine church art held in the School's Byzantine Research Fund Archive. Contributors include Metropolitan Kallistos (on Mount Athos), distinguished professors from British universities, and scholars from the National Hellenic Research Foundation. The School's mission was and is to further the study of Greece in all its aspects. This book shows how scholars took advantage of this flexibility. Contributions explore the connection between the School's different disciplines, in particular between archaeology and anthropology. The nature of the School community itself is examined, as is the School's involvement in the First World War. The impact on scholars raised in the classical tradition of Greece's landscape and living culture is a pervasive theme.