The spread of Greek civilization through Europe and into Africa and the Near East began long before the full flowering of Classical Greek culture. The Greeks Overseas vividly demonstrates the value of archaeology in reconstructing one of the most important formative periods of European history. Out of the Dark Ages of reduced population and comparative penury, the Greeks set their sails north, south, east, and west to plant trading posts and colonies, to reap whatever harvest of materials and expertise the barbarians could offer, and to disseminate the benefits of their own rapidly developing and brilliant civilization. Reviewing the first edition in 1965, The Times Literary Supplement described it as "a masterly summary of a subject that is constantly in need of reappraisal." This fourth edition adds a chapter summarizing new finds and exploring the new attitudes that have affected the study of the subject in the past forty years.