By day, young Gilbert Bagnani studied archaeology in Greece, but by night he socialised with the elite of Athenian society. Secretly writing for the Morning Pos

This book relates three years (1921-1924) in the life of Gilbert Bagnani, a young Italian archaeologist in Greece, based on his letters to his mother in Rome, a

'Monumental . . . A wonderful book.' Peter Frankopan'Magisterial . . . remarkable.' Guardian'Erudite and highly readable . . . An authoritative guide to the cou

"Wonderful…a thoughtful discussion of what made [the Greeks] so important, in their own time and in ours." —Natalie Haynes, Independent The ancient Greeks i