Modern Athens is a bustling, overgrown city, continually coming to terms with its illustrious past. Dominated by the Parthenon, the world-famous symbol of classical antiquity, it has been touched by every aspect of Greece's turbulent history, suffering invasions and occupations, sieges, division and dictatorship; it has grown dramatically into a metropolis of millions. Mixing old and new, the Greek capital is a treasure house of eastern Orthodox and western culture, rich in the visual arts, architecture and poetry.

Michael Llewellyn-Smith describes the history and culture of Athens, home to monuments enduring, purged and restored. Exploring its streets and squares, he reveals layers of Ancient Greek, Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman history; elegant Bavarian neoclassical buildings; and a modern city of concrete and glass, traffic and pollution.