The Hour of the Bell

by Petrakis, Harry Mark

• ISBN13: 9780809328628
• ISBN10: 0809328623
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-12-10
• Publisher: Southern Illinois Univ Pr

Summary

In 1821, in the geographically small but culturally and historically rich country of Greece, a revolution began to overturn four terrible centuries of slavery the Greeks had endured under the Ottoman Turks. Harry Mark Petrakis's historical novelThe Hour of the Bellrecalls the first year of the revolt. Petrakis provides a panoramic view of the conflict through the stories of a variety of characters, including a village priest grief-stricken over the killing of his Turkish neighbors; a guerilla captain leading a band of wild mountain fighters against the Turkish garrisons; the wife of Prince Petrobey of the Mani, embittered by the fighting that takes the lives of her sons; a sea captain commanding the smaller Greek brigs in brilliant forays against the larger Turkish frigates; and a scribe to the legendary General Kolokotronis. Each character provides a defining perspective on the small but fierce conflict that altered the course of European history.

Author Biography

Harry Mark Petrakis is the author of twenty-one books, including novels, short story collections and books of essays. One of the novels, A Dream of Kings, was made into a major motion picture. Twice a finalist for the National Book Award in Fiction, he has also lectured extensively in the old bardic tradition and taught at numerous writers' conferences. He has held appointments at Ohio University as McGuffy Visiting Lecturer and San Francisco State University as Nikos Kazantzakis Professor in Modern Greek Studies.