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A central belief of our time is that in order to "cope" with the past, one must continually maintain the memory of it. Christian Meyer, one of Germany's most important historians, scours world history to understand what people once did when they sought reconciliation after a war or civil war. What he discovered was both astonishing and simple: Since the ancient Greeks, the world has relied on forgetfulness. However, Germany's crimes during the Nazi era cannot be forgotten. Their public remembrance is and is indispensable. This book reviews several reconciliations achieved through forgetting in human history. If humans cannot forget, they will not be able to reconcile with the past and enemies, and will fall into permanent chaos. If they choose to completely forget about inhuman atrocities, they may repeat the same mistakes again. This book reveals a long-neglected aspect of history from an angle that few people pay attention to.

When we think about the origins of Europe, why do we think of ancient Greece as the foundation of its modern civilization? What kind of people were the ancient Greeks? What experiences or challenges make them so special? And most importantly, why was this free culture bred in ancient Greece and not elsewhere? In this book, Christian Meyer, one of contemporary Europe's preeminent authorities on the classical world, embarks on a fascinating journey in search of answers through a wide-ranging consideration of ancient Greek civilization and its opponents, from art to philosophy, from politics to war. This carefully crafted masterpiece is the culmination of his lifelong research on ancient Greek culture.