The emergence of the early Greek world of the eighth century B.C. appears startling in contrast to the "darkness," of the several preceding centuries, centuries about which we know little.

David Tandy investigates the roles of the economy and of poetry in that emergence, using tools from political and economic anthropology to argue that the so-called miracle of the polis was fundamentally exclusive and involved enormous human and cultural costs, that wrenching adjustments in the way status and wealth were distributed within the Greek communities led to this peculiarly Western political institution.

The eighth-century release from economic stagnation brought great change to the Aegean world, as once again goods moved within and between communities. By analyzing demographic surges and the colonization movement, Tandy explores the economic organization of preindustrial societies, both ancient and contemporary, to shed light on the Greek experience.

He argues that the sudden shift in Greek economic formations led to new social behaviors as the polis, itself a byproduct of economic change, began to coalesce.