Cambridge Comp to Archaic Greece (Cambridge Companions to the Ancient World)

this is probably a better book for someone who studies ancient Greece professionally. The chapters are written by different authors and each concentrates on different aspects of pre-Socratic Greece. However, even within each chapter we are overwhelmed with such details as construction of Greek shields and what temple offerings were made in each century. The work is not a wholistic look at the Greece. Similar to wanting to learn about human biology, but concentrating on minute chemical reactions that occur in (1) liver (2) kidneys (3) brain in each chapter rather than looking at the body as a whole. If you want to to learn about general story of why/how Greek Dark Ages turned to Classic Greece then I'd suggest to look elsewhere.