Description
Book SynopsisThe Greek Fire examines the United States'' early global influence as the fledgling nation that inserted itself in conflicts that were oceans away. Maureen Connors Santelli focuses on the American fascination with and involvement in the Greek Revolution in the 1820s and 1830s. That nationalist movement incited an American philhellenic movement that pushed the borders of US interests into the eastern Mediterranean and infused a global perspective into domestic conversations concerning freedom and reform.
Perceiving strong cultural, intellectual, and racial ties with Greece, American men and women identified Greece as the seedbed of American democracy and a crucial source of American values. From Maryland to Missouri and Maine to Georgia, grassroots organizations sent men, money, and supplies to aid the Greeks. Defending the modern Greeks from Turkish slavery and oppression was an issue on which northerners and southerners agreed. Philhellenes, often led by women, joined
Trade Review
Highly recommended.
* Choice *
It is a testament to the range of The Greek Fire that Santelli extends her analysis beyond the transnational story of the reception of the Greek rebellion in America to consider the trans-imperial and geopolitical dimensions of this episode. Santelli, in particular, should be applauded for linking the reception of the Greek revolution in the United States to its quest for commercial expansion in the Near East.
* Journal of the Early Republic *
Table of ContentsIntroduction: The Spark of the Greek Fire
1. Americans, Greeks, and Ottomans Before 1821
2. European Philhellenism Crosses the Atlantic
3. Philhellenism Joins with American Benevolence
4. Philhellenes Clash with American Commerce
5. Abolitionism, Reform, and Philhellenic Rhetoric
Conclusion: The Legacy of American Philhellenism
