The archaeologist and Hellenist Greverus visited Greece in 1837 in order to search for the monuments described by Thucydides, Pausanias, and other Greek writers, and recorded in his book a picture of Greek society that... may not be far from today's.

Greverus' keen eye is due to the fact that, before visiting Greece, he had attempted two other "social radiographs": France and Italy. Greverus tried to decode the chronological framework and the geographical factors that had determined the identity of the Greeks in the 19th century, considering that this would be useful to his compatriots. The truth is that, at the time of its publication, his book would truly serve the Greeks - if they could read it. However, perhaps today it is even more useful to modern Greeks, because it allows us to compare and realize the course of our contemporary history.

The information conveyed by Greverus is so fascinating that one feels the need to continue to draw from it, satisfying their thirst for knowledge. It is like discovering oneself through someone else's eyes.

The book contains engravings from Christopher Wordsworth, D.D.'s book Greece: Pictorial, Descriptive, And Historical.