Greeks In The Far Orient

Antiquarian & Collectible Cultural History Asian History Biography & Memoir Maritime History Greek History Diaspora Studies

“Greeks in the Far Orient” is the only full-scale, English-language biography that follows Hellenic merchants, mariners, scholars and artists from the Aegean to the China Sea. In 696 pages, historian Anastasios Myrodis Tamis reconstructs their 250-year odyssey—starting with the first Greek-flag merchant brigs that slipped through the Ottoman blockade in 1750 and ending with the thriving diaspora communities of Shanghai, Hong Kong, Macau and Manila on the eve of World War II. Readers meet the Constantinople ship-broker who financed the first Greek-owned opium clipper, the Corfu doctor who became personal physician to the King of Siam, and the Ithacan family whose Manila department store still stands today. Every chapter is anchored in freshly translated logbooks, consular dispatches and private letters, turning what could have been a footnote in imperial history into a sweeping human story of enterprise, exile and cultural fusion.

Collectors prize this 2011 first edition from Athens-based Vanias Publishing because it was printed in a short academic run and never re-issued in the West. The oversize paperback is sewn, not glued, so the 696 heavy-stock pages stay open on a desk—perfect for the 180 period photographs, harbour charts and passenger lists that illustrate the text. While most copies were remaindered in Greek bookshops, this copy is clean and tight: only light cover scuffs and a neat gift inscription on the front blank page keep it from being near-fine. No ex-library stamps, no dog-eared leaves, and no underlining means the book is ready for archival sleeve or display shelf.

For anyone interested in Greek history, Asian maritime trade, or rare diaspora studies, “Greeks in the Far Orient” is a cornerstone work. Young adults will find vivid role-model stories of migrants who built fortunes without losing their language or faith, while collectors gain a low-print-run title that already commands triple-cover prices in European auctions. With its ISBN-13 9789602882917, this volume is the definitive reference you will cite again and again—whether you are tracing family roots, curating a Hellenic library, or searching for the last affordable copy online.

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