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Thursday 23 May 2013

Yannis' Trilogy


Yannis Andricopoulos, Ph.D., formerly London correspondent of Athenian dailies, editor of i-to-i magazine, and co-founder of the renowned Skyros holidays, is author of several books on Greek and European twentieth century history. His trilogy (The Future of Past, The Greek Inheritance and In Bed with Madness), have been published in both the UK and the USA by Imprint Academic. 

These books explore the Judaeo-Christian culture of faith that followed by the capitalist culture of profit stifled the earlier Greek culture of joy. The books, very important in the context of our contemporary search for a better future, ask the question whether a return to the roots of the West’s philosophical tradition can give an answer to the problems of our day. This trilogy is for you, if you are looking for a book that will make you think.

In Bed with Madness: Trying to Make Sense in a World that Doesn’t
Globalism endowed us with McDonald’s, ‘the world’s local bank’ and English football teams without English players. It has also given us an irrepressible desire for more as enough is never good enough – the blanket is always too short. Meanwhile, our personal world as much as our social and political realities seem to have blithely surrendered to the madness of a civilization which views anything from corporate greed and global warming to military adventures and religious fundamentalism as normal as a door banging in the wind. The destructive capabilities of our age, Yannis Andricopoulos holds, have run too far ahead of our wisdom. However, the process is not irreversible if our thinking can postpone its retirement. In Bed with Madness is ‘a well-argued, powerful and profound indictment of contemporary culture’, stylishly and humorously written – a reviewer said he would have bought it just for its wit! Buy it now on amazon

The Greek Inheritance: Ancient Greek Wisdom for the Digital Era
The culture of ancient Greece, a culture of joy, was replaced by the Judaeo-Christian culture of faith and then by the capitalist culture of profit. Yet, it is the only culture worth fighting for if we want a world run by humans rather than theocracies, nanotechnologies or private equity funds. Yannis Andricopoulos views the Greek culture as the front line of the battle against individualism, materialism, authoritarianism and religious extremism. In a world turned into the corporations’ playground, this is also the battle for human values, civic virtues and an ethical society. The Greek Inheritance traces the conflict between the Greek values and those of the repressive, religious or capitalist order throughout the millenniums. The book is challenging and well-written with a light, humorous touch. Buy it now on amazon

The Future of the Past: From the Culture of Profit to the Culture of Joy
Universalism in its old forms has, just like door-to-door milkmen, gone for good. But the search for some universally accepted ethical standards cannot be abandoned – values are not colourless as the wind and odourless as thoughts. Looking into our world from the classical Greek point of view, Yannis Andricopoulos wonders whether we cannot place Justice again at the heart of our morality, look forward to the happiness of the individual rather than the upgrading of his or her consumer fantasies, and endeavour to create, not more wealth, but a just and honourable world. The Future of the Past, noted for its elegance and humour, is written in ‘a lively, challenging style guaranteeing to stimulate debate on the most pressing issues of our time’. Buy it now on amazon

This is one of the most thought-provoking books I've read. It is the sort of book that makes the works of Oliver James, Deepak Chopra or Tom Hodgkinson fade into insignificance. Why more people haven't heard of this guy is beyond me. Seriously. You've got as far as the Amazon page. I highly recommend you get it’. O’Neale

This is basically a breathtaking whistle-stop intellectual and cultural history of the Western world, where to adapt Pythagoras, not ‘Man’ but Ancient Greece is the measure of all things. Certainly whetted my appetite for Greekness’. Rodger Kibble

Copies of the trilogy can be bought from various online retailers including amazon, imprint, waterstones, and Barnes and Noble. They can also be bought in person by visiting us at Skyros offshoot The Grange by the Sea on the Isle of Wight. For more information or to request a book signing, feel free to drop us a line at office@skyros.com. We look forward to hearing from you.

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