Review of Eleonora Naxidou, Η ευρωπαϊκότητα εντός της βουλγαρικής βαλκανικότητας: Ο Λιούμπεν Καραβέλοφ, ο φεντεραλισμός και οι Έλληνες [Europeanness in the context of Bulgarian Balkanness: Ljuben Karavelov, federalism and the Greeks]. Athens: Alexandria, 2021. 311 pp.

This article argues that in twentieth-century historiography trends have often placed – and sometimes misplaced – Britain at the centre or the periphery, depending on the historical context and the perspectives of historians themselves, who projected current preoccupations and cultural concerns onto the past. It thus emphasises the role of historiography in shaping perceptions of Britain’s place in the world, highlighting the interplay between centre and periphery and underscoring its prowess and power to still shape the world. Ultimately, it aims to explore the ways in which Britain both constructs and is constructed by the world, with a focus on several key publications that have become pivotal in British historiography.

Review of Elli Lemonidou. Ιστορία και μνήμη του Α΄ Παγκοσμίου Πολέμου στην Ευρώπη [History and memory of the First World War in Europe]. Athens: Papazisis, 2019. 148 pp.

Review of Ada Dialla, Η Ρωσική αυτοκρατορία και ο Ελληνικός κόσμος: Τοπικές, ευρωπαϊκές και παγκόσμιες ιστορίες στην εποχή των επαναστάσεων [The Russian Empire and the Greek world: Local, European and global histories in the Age of Revolutions]. Athens: Alexandria, 2023. 328 pp.

This special issue consists of a collection of six articles by Greek historians of the periphery of Europe that look at the perplexities and challenges of European historiography of the centre. Their analysis aims to interpret pivotal moments that have shaped recent historiographies in tackling the advance of global history, and the successful or unsuccessful ways in which world histories have rearranged notions of nation, empire and interconnectedness through economy and culture. They seek not to write a different history than a native historian would, especially as academic connectedness and informed research is the aim of every historian in any case, but to express how, in their opinion, ruptures in dominant convictions and essentialised ideas function in historiographical terms today. A common thread in these essays is that, despite the expansion of methodologies and globalised historiographical endeavours, the nation persists in many recent historical works as a constant, essential unit in the historical profession. In that sense, even when the peripheries enrich historical research, they rarely produce holistic works or independent theoretical frameworks.

Review of Raphael Greenberg and Yannis Hamilakis. Archaeology, Nation, and Race. Confronting the Past, Decolonizing the Future in Greece and Israel. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2022.

This article has two purposes. Firstly, it examines recent historiographical overviews that mostly discuss “peripheral” or “national”/“regional” historiographical traditions, to detect current aspirations, frustrations and challenges in respect of how academic centres, peripheries and hierarchies are constructed in gender history today. Secondly, it discusses the profile of four international journals dedicated to women’s and gender history to examine how historiographical centres and peripheries have been shaped through their pages in the last decade (2011–2020).

This Afterword examines how the Russo-Ukrainian War and shifting geopolitics have reshaped historiography, particularly regarding Europe’s evolving borders, centres and peripheries. The war accelerated calls to decolonise Slavic, Russian and European studies, emphasising the agency of Ukraine. Ultimately, the war has reinvigorated debates about Europe’s identity, reminding scholars that Europe is not monolithic but a mosaic of shifting, intersecting regional, global and contested stories.

Review of Effi Gazi. Άγνωστη χώρα: Ελλάδα και Δύση στις αρχές του 20ού αιώνα [Unknown country: Greece and the West at the beginning of the 20th century]. Athens: Polis, 2020. 368 pp.

How do we study a Revolution? How does the study of the Greek Revolution fit into the wider frame of Revolutions? When does the study of the Greek Revolution answer to historiographical requests and when respond to ideological needs of the present? This text attempts to approach these issues, expressing some thoughts on three recent books on the Greek Revolution: Petros Pizanias, Η Ελληνική Επανάσταση, 1821–1830 [The Greek Revolution, 1821–1830]. Athens: Estia, 2021. 272 pp. Mark Mazower, Η Ελληνική επανάσταση [The Greek Revolution]. Athens: Alexandria, 2021. 566 pp. Originally published as The Greek Revolution: 1821 and the Making of Modern Europe. London: Allen Lane, 2021. 574 pp. Aristides Hatzis, Ο ενδοξότερος αγώνας: Η Ελληνική Επανάσταση του 1821 [The most glorious struggle: The Greek Revolution of 1821]. Athens: Papadopoulos, 2021. 640 pp.