Where else could you discover so many enchanting worlds so close together? Through awe-inspiring pictures and text, compare many Greek island cultures: pagan temples next to Byzantine churches; healing Roman springs above lively seaside fishing villages; ancient working grain windmills beside Minoan ruins. Start the trip in the more populated islands of Crete, Cyprus, and Rhodes, then explore remote chains like the Cyclades, Ionia, and the Dodecanese. Still to come: 130 uninhabited islands. Other stops along your storied path: the route of The Iliad and The Odyssey; the site where Helios watched Rhodes rise from the sea; Aphrodite's beach; the Birthplace of Zeus. Although conquered over the centuries by Greece, Rome, Venice, and the Ottoman Empire, the islands in this armchair tour will win your heart, not by conquest, but by seduction.