The great depression of the years between the World Wars is widely held to have led to the collapse of democracy in many countries. This study of Greece, which recovered quickly from the economic crisis, argues that there is no simple correlation between economic and political crisis.

List of abbreviations; Introduction; Politics and social change; The wartime inheritance; Reconstruction and recovery; The export crisis; The financial crisis; Abandoning the Gold Standard; The new trade regime; Domestic recovery and the state; Conclusion; Tables; Appendix 1. Debt default of the periphery; Appendix 2. The impact of import restrictions; Bibliography; Index

'masterly, and very well-written ... Mazower's book provides the indispensable economic context of the slide towards authoritarianism in 1930s Greece, a development that was paralleled in the other countries of the Balkans.' Times Higher Education Supplement

'masterly, and very well-written ... Mazower's book provides the indispensable economic context of the slide towards authoritarianism in 1930s Greece, a development that was paralleled in the other countries of the Balkans.' Times Higher Education Supplement `closely researched study, ... it is an authoritative analysis of Greek politicians in their social and economic context and of the interplay of domestic political, economic and social forces. Nigel Clive, The Times Literary Supplement 'a splendid study ... a well-written and thoroughly researched book, one valuable to the scholar and interesting and enlightening to the general reader. It should become an indispensable reading for all students of modern Greek history. Mazower has produced a good book.' John A. Koumoulides, Ball State University, History 'Thanks to his knowledge of the language, Mazower makes good use of a wealth of information available in Greek.' Thanos Veremis, University of Athens, European History Quarterly 'this pathbreaking study will do much to attract interest to a previously neglected area ... It is the first scholarly work on Modern Greek economic history to appear in English ... Meticulously researched ... and accompanied by a wealth of illuminating tables ... this volume will be of interest to more than economic historians, and the author has clearly made great efforets to make the book accessible to all readers ... This is a volume that provides what has long been the missing economic dimension in the history of inter-war Greece; as such, it will be essential for anyone looking at Greece's political history.' Erik Goldstein, University of Birmingham, MGS 11:2, October 1993 `The author has made extensive use of Greek sources and recent Greek research and he brings out the ebb and flow of Greek politics as well.' English Historical Review