History of Greece [George Finlay]

History of Greece George Finlay, the historian of Greece, was born on December 21, 1799, at Faversham, Kent, England, where his father, Capt. J. Finlay, R.E., was inspector of the Government powder mills. His early instruction was undertaken by his mother, to whose training he attributed his love of history. He studied law at Glasgow and Göttingen universities, at the latter of which he became acquainted with a Greek fellow-student, and resolved to take part in the struggle for Greek independence. He proceeded to Greece, where he met Byron and the leaders of the Greek patriotic forces, took part in many engagements with the Turks, and conducted missions on behalf of the Greek provisional government until the independence of Greece was established. Finlay bought an estate in Attica, on which he resided for many years. The publication of his great series of histories of Greece began in 1844, and was completed in 1875 with the second edition, which brought the history of modern Greece down to 1864.