Molly Greene's book on Crete is above all a reflection on the continuities and discontinuities in the Eastern Mediterranean as it transitions from the medieval to the modern world.

Through the study of Crete's history during the period when the island passes from Venetian to Ottoman rule, answers are sought regarding the changes that occur, or what remains unchanged, in governance, economy, and society, while conflicts and interactions are explored in this unique space where Catholicism, Orthodoxy, and Islam intersect.

The analysis insists on integrating historical subjects, whether they are individual people or social groups, into the broader space of their actions, interactions, dependencies, influences, and expectations. By drawing concentric circles, Greene's perspective moves from the villages and towns of Crete and extends throughout the Eastern Mediterranean, from the Balkans to North Africa.

This world, which is divided between two centers of power, Constantinople and Venice, proves to be unexpectedly dense and complex in Greene's analysis, with borders permeable to people, languages, perceptions, and goods.

Thus, Crete becomes a guide and key to deciphering this shared yet divided world, a world that no longer exists.