Thrice a Stranger: Penelope’s Eastern Mediterranean Odyssey

A Greek grandfather born a citizen of the Ottoman Empire who became an Italian national provides the starting point for this book, which, by focusing on the real story of a family against a background of historical events, shows how what the author calls the ‘minotaurs of fear and greed’ can be overcome and the pseudo-theories of many a pundit of so-called international relations can be demolished. It is not every day that the son of a Cumbrian who fought in the Great War meets the daughter of his Ottoman enemy, following the next war, and then marries her. The author’s grandfathers were on opposing sides in the Great War, one with the British at Gallipoli, the other in the Ottoman Army; in the next war, his father and uncle were on opposing sides to his aunt’s husband. His aunt was thrice a refugee, from Ottoman Turkey, Italian Rhodes, and then again from modern Turkey. This forms the rich backcloth to this historical account of the family vicissitudes engendered by the behaviour of Greece’s controversial Eleftherios Venizelos and Turkey’s bombastic Kemal Ataturk. Written and spoken accounts by family members and diplomatic documents are skilfully woven into a rich tapestry of that geohistorical toilet, the Eastern Mediterranean. The book brings to life some vital aspects of modern European history, ending with a trenchant critique of Greece and Turkey today, warts and all.


William Mallinson, Professor of Political Ideas and Institutions at Università Guglielmo Marconi, is a former Member of Her Majesty’s Diplomatic Service who left to study for, and was awarded, his PhD at the London School of Economics and Political Science’s Department of International History. Following a period in business as European Public Affairs Manager at ITT’s European Headquarters in Brussels, he turned his attention to the academic world, playing a pivotal role in introducing Britain’s first Honours degree in Public Relations. Since 1994, when he was awarded a Greek Government scholarship, he has been perusing British Foreign Office, Ministry of Defence, Prime Minister’s Office and Cabinet archives, under the general rubric of Anglo-Greek relations during the Cold War. He has also published several articles in the press, and spoken at numerous conferences. He is an occasional lecturer at the Greek National Defence School, particularly on Britain and Russia/ USSR. He speaks, reads and writes French, German, Italian, Dutch, and Greek. His publications include Public Lies and Private Truths (1996; 2000); Portrait of an Ambassador (1998); Cyprus: A Modern History (2005); From Neutrality to Commitment: Dutch Foreign Policy, NATO and European Integration (2010); Britain and Cyprus: Key Themes and Documents since World War Two (2011); and The FCO, Hegemonolingualism, and the End of Britain’s Freedom (2014).

"The core story is greatly compelling. The topic of Greek-Turkish relations has been abundantly explored. Yet, seen through the eyes of a cosmopolitan family, one can sense the gradual rack and ruin of worlds past, while being reminded –via references to very real people- that there was nothing teleological about it. At the same time, the book does not read like an obituary; the author has not time for lamentations. On the contrary, the more explicitly sociopolitical chapters assert the obvious: in both countries a project of political restart is in order if better days are to come. Overall, the book gives the impression that its size is inversely proportional to its remit: in less than 100 small pages, the British author traverses through half a century of political turmoil, analyzes the idiosyncrasies of two petulant neighbors, denounces his home country’s “supercillious” post-WII foreign policies and shares his own thoughts on the future of the region. But given that the book doesn’t aim to be (or to challenge) a scientific argument, the reader will find great pleasure. It is not very often that the rational mind of the Englishman is successfully conjoined to the flexible worldview of the Mediterranean to produce a kaleidoscope of impressions, emotions, disappointments and hope."

Charalampos Tsitsopoulos Bosphorus Review of Books, Issue #4 (July 2017)

Buy This Book

ISBN: 1-4438-8518-5

ISBN13: 978-1-4438-8518-8

Release Date: 3rd December 2015

Pages: 132

Price: £41.99

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ISBN: 1-4438-9587-3

ISBN13: 978-1-4438-9587-3

Release Date: 2nd August 2017

Pages: 131

Price: £29.99

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