Noting the standard reservations of Classicists regarding the Greek Bronze and Dark Ages, Carol Thomas declares the Pre-Classical period of ancient Greece to be the locus of much historical information. Both the metaphor and the fact of Troy serve as emblems of this historical enterprise as Thomas organizes her work around the subjects encountered by those approaching this time-frame: the tools (method and dating) and the evidence (writing and oral tradition). A brief account of the war is given in the context of both an actual war and a metaphor. These tools allow her to reconstruct the Mycenaean Age and the Dark Age prior to Classical Greece. A necessary requisite for consideration of the history of Classical Greece, this volume is accessible to scholars and interested laity alike.