The Merchants of Nations

A vivid account of the passionate pursuit of love, conquest, and revenge, The Merchants of Nations (1882) brought popular success to Alexandros Papadiamantis years before he would achieve critical acclaim with his short stories. Revered as the “Dostoyevsky of Greece” and the “Saint of Greek literature”, Papadiamantis delivers his characteristic irony and deep insight into the human psyche with this work of historical fiction. Set amid the collapsing world of the late Byzantine Empire, the novel describes how the lives of devout Aegean islanders are upended when they are caught in the wake of ruthless medieval crusaders. This timely translation by Michail Tzoufras of one of Greece’s greatest modern writers is essential reading for anyone interested in the history of Greece’s place in Europe—a still-relevant issue given the nation’s current economic and political crisis.