"A comprehensive, thoughtful treatment of the time period before the crystallization of the ancient Greek city states."--William A. Parkinson, Curator and Professor, The Field Museum and University of Illinois at Chicago "An important and must-read account. The strength of this book lies in its close analysis of the important different regional characteristics and evolutionary trajectories of Greece as it transforms into the Archaic and, later, the Classical world."--David B. Small, author Ancient Greece: Social Structure and Evolution "This book reconfigures our understanding of early Greece on a regional level, beyond Mycenaean 'palaces' and across temporal boundaries rarely spanned in current scholarship. Knodell's sophisticated arguments enable a fresh reading of the emergence of early Greek polities, revealing the micro-regions that put to the test over-arching 'Mediterranean' models. His detailed study makes a convincing return to a comparative framework, integrating a 'small world' network and its trajectory with the larger picture of ancient complex societies. The last chapter, 'Why Early Greece Matters, ' offers a frank and refreshing look at what we can learn from ancient failures as well as successes, lessons that point us towards becoming better informed global citizens."--Sarah Morris, Steinmetz Professor of Classical Archaeology and Material Culture, University of California, Los Angeles