The Greek uprising against Turkish rule in the 1820s and the subsequent establishment of an independent Greek kingdom heralded an era of nationalism in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Since then, Britain has played the most crucial role among the Great Powers in the struggles to expand Greece's borders beyond their initially limited extent.

By studying the incorporation of the Ionian Islands into Greece, the often bloody process of the Union of Crete, the Union of the Dodecanese, and the pains of British colonial rule in Cyprus leading up to its independence in 1960, this book comparatively examines the involvement of the United Kingdom in the modern Greek experience.

At the heart of the analysis is the interaction between internal and external forces that shaped the trajectory of divided island societies. By investigating the patterns that arise, the authors provide an original perspective on the political and social morphology of the Eastern Mediterranean.

While the main framework is shaped by Anglo-Greek relations, the texture of these struggles also necessitates attention to Ottoman decline and the succession of the Ottoman state, the rivalries among the Great Powers, ethnic and social fragmentation, the early history of international peacekeeping missions, and the process of post-war decolonization.

[Excerpt from the text on the back cover of the edition]