The Greek Connection
The Life of Elias Demetracopoulos and the Untold Story of Watergate
by James H. Barron
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Pub Date Jul 13 2020 | Archive Date Sep 09 2020
Melville House Publishing | Melville House
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Description
He was one of the most fascinating figures in 20th-century political history. Yet today, Elias Demetracopoulos is strangely overlooked—even though his life reads like an epic adventure story . . .
As a precocious twelve-year-old in occupied Athens, he engaged in heroic resistance efforts against the Nazis, for which he was imprisoned and tortured. After his life was miraculously spared, he became an investigative journalist, covering Greece’s tumultuous politics and America’s increasing influence in the region. A clever and scoop-hungry reporter, Elias soon gained access to powerful figures in both governments—and attracted many enemies. When the Greek military dictatorship took power in 1967, he narrowly escaped to Washington DC, where he would lead the fight to restore democracy in his homeland—while running afoul of the American government, too.
Now, after a decade of research and original reporting, James H. Barron uncovers the story of a man whose tireless pursuit of uncomfortable truths would put him at odds with not only his own government, but that of the Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter and Reagan administrations, making him a target of CIA, FBI, and State Department surveillance and harassment—and Greek kidnapping and assassination plots American authorities may have purposefully overlooked.
A stunning feat of biographic storytelling, sweeping from World War II to the Cold War, Watergate and beyond, The Greek Connection is about a lifetime of standing up for democracy and a free press against powerful special interests. It has much to teach us about our own era’s abuses of power, dark money, journalist intimidation, and foreign interference in elections.
Advance Praise
"This is a magnificent work, a triumphant combination of exhaustive research and fine narrative writing. The story of the Greek Connection to the Watergate saga is told through a sweeping biography of a compelling figure who captures our attention from beginning to end." —Doris Kearns Goodwin, author of Leadership: In Turbulent Times
“James Barron has done history a favor by telling the incomparable life of the amazing and indefatigable Elias Demetracopoulos, who spent his teenage years fighting against fascism in World War II and suffering, after the war, as America threw in against those inside Greece who had stood off the Nazis. Elias, having seen it all in his youth, became a real life Zelig as an investigative reporter, committed to the telling of truth and the making of trouble for Presidents from Jack Kennedy through the post-Nixon years. There is much new history in this book, especially about the beginnings of the Watergate scandal.” —Seymour M. Hersh
“The Greek Connection is a marvelous book, a biography that illuminates an essential yet nearly forgotten figure who navigated some of the most important events of the 20th century. In Elias Demetracopoulos, author James Barron has vividly portrayed a real-life character as remarkable as any fictional Cold War hero. In our own era of political and journalistic skullduggery, this is a must-read.” —Mitchell Zuckoff, New York Times bestselling author of Fall and Rise and 13 Hours
“The hero of this story, Elias Demetracopoulos, was a freedom fighter in the fullest sense, both in battle trenches and in confrontations with powerful political adversaries. His story, deftly woven together here for the first time, is a lens through which we can see 20th-century history in a new light.” —Stephen Kinzer, author of Overthrow: America's Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq
“Elias Demetracopoulos is an illustration of how much can be achieved by a determined and courageous individual.” —Christopher Hitchens
"[A] page-turner... Highly recommended." —Library Journal
"Barron’s excellently-researched and well-crafted biography of a man whose pursuit of the truth despite the potential cost of that pursuit is an inspiration in an era when the truth is all too often lies." —Ron Jacobs, Counterpunch
"Barron offers an even handed portrait of a complex man . . . a deeply researched life of a man in the crossroads of history." —Kirkus
Marketing Plan
Confirmed Washington Post review at pub
Target early excerpt placement with The New York Times magazine, Vanity Fair, or Longreads.
Target features with the Financial Times, The Economist, The New Yorker, and more.
Target major review coverage with the New York Times, USA Today, and The Washington Post, as well as the The Boston Globe, and the Christian Science Monitor
Target Best of the Month coverage with TIME, Foreign Policy, Vox, as well as The Huffington Post.
Target continued longform review/feature coverage with the NYRB, LARB, Bookforum, and Slate.
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Aggressive newsletter campaign to general audience (18K recipients), librarians (17K), booksellers (7K), and targeted academics
Outreach to targeted authors and influencers with ties to comp titles
Social media campaign positioning The Greek Connection as a must-read political thriller from THE expert on the story
Targeted outreach to DC booksellers/librarians
Available Editions
EDITION | Other Format |
ISBN | 9781612198286 |
PRICE | $32.99 (USD) |
PAGES | 496 |