In The Story of Lemnos Dimitris Plantzos has written the long history of the relatively unknown and, until recently, somewhat ignored Aegean island of Lemnos. The story is a fascinating narrative, a true chronicle of the place and its people. The book is illustrated throughout in colour. Readers will find detailed information about the society, economy, political life, art, and the intellectual output of the island over time, from the first nomadic settlements during the late Palaeolithic period (ca. 10,500 BC) up to today. There are extensive references to the prehistoric cities of Poliochni and Myrina, to the important sites of Koukonisi, Hephaestia and Kaveirion during the Archaic and Classical periods (7th-4th centuries BC), Lemnos of the Hellenistic and Roman eras, Lemnos as a Byzantine, Venetian, and Ottoman possession, and of course the life of the island and its inhabitants from the liberation of 1912-13 onwards. Finally, we get to read about Lemnos of today: places of historical importance, archaeological sites and museums, also locations of natural beauty, geological monuments and places of ecological interest, beaches and traditional settlements. The author also covers the intangible and gastronomic heritage of Lemnos, and also the music and dance tradition that is alive to this day.

Dimitris Plantzos is professor of classical archaeology at the University of Athens. He holds a master’s degree and doctorate in classical archaeology from the University of Oxford. Two of his earlier books are also published by Kapon Editions: Greek Art and Archaeology, 1200-30 BC (2016), and The Art of Painting in Ancient Greece (2018).