This is aimed primarily, but not exclusively, at readers who know ancient Greek, and shows how accessible modern Greek is, once the basic adaptations over time are understood. For speakers of Greek the book provides an overview of the language's past. For those with no Greek the historical introductions and translations of the extracts serves as an introduction to the Greeks and their language.The chapters trace the long march of the languages from the uses of Greek in the Linear B tables through the classical, Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, Frankish / Venetian, Ottoman and post independence periods to the present day. The developments are illustrated within their historical contexts and the extracts give a taste of the literature of a period as well as providing examples of changes in the language, which are explained in the grammatical points to that follow.This second edition has been revised throughout. The translations are more literal, to enable a clearer understanding of the Greek text, and a new appendix summarises the grammar of Standard Modern Greek. Finally and up-to-date and fuller bibliography provides a useful guide to further study.