... an eclectic blend of literary criticism, political history, and conceptual geography. * The Wordsworth Circle *
... ambitious and thought-provoking. * The Wordsworth Circle *
Along with offering useful readings of particular literary texts, Roessel provides a clear-eyed, un-pedantic guide to the tangled web of freedom-fighting and nation-building that actually occurred in a land that has proven enduringly fascinating to the Anglo-American imagination. The result: a rich, accessible, and edifying treatment of a subject well worth the scholarly digging and the intellectual voyage. * The Wordsworth Circle *
Based on dauntingly wide reading, David Roessel's study provides an astute, convincing and unsentimental survey of the ways in which anglophone writers' reactions to Greece have changed over the years ... All philhellenes will find In Byron's Shadow absorbing. * Times Literary Supplement *
This book is a sheer delight. It is rare to come across such a combination of readability, anecdotal pleasure, intelligence, research, ... erudition and passion. Roessel's book is no mere survey and synopsis of literature, though of course there is a great deal of this. He pursues a number of interesting theses with keen intelligence, and the pages are dotted with insights - too many to summarize. * Bryn Mawr Classical Review *
