The Ghosts of Plaka Beach

Sixty years after the end of World War II Stylianos (Stelios) Perrakis, Greek-born finance professor who has lived most of his life in Canada, went back to Greece to investigate a traumatic event in his family's history that colored his childhood years. The circumstances surrounding the kidnapping and murder of his maternal uncle by a Communist death squad in May 1994, in the Argolida region of the Greek Peloponnese, were cloaked in mystery, never discussed openly by family members. Using trial transcripts, interviews with survivors and with people involved in his uncle's kidnapping, and such primary materials as unpublished diaries and family correspondence, Perrakis managed to document the full sequence of events that led up to this family tragedy. He then widened his focus to draw out the implications of this particular event, painting an intimate picture of a prosperous middle-class provincial world faced with extraordinary challenges that it was unable to overcome. This is a book full of haunting images that far transcend the boundaries of family history. There are resistance fighters who turn into mass murderers, German troops who rescue innocent hostages slated for execution, entire communities who join the fight against the Communist resistance. There are also unexpected outbreaks of generosity and compassion. As distinguished Yale professor Stathis Kalyvas writes in the foreword, 'Don't be fooled by the small scale of the Ghosts of Plaka Beach, its modest ambition, and the author's claim that he has not written a history book. This is as rigorous ad thoroughly researched a history book as they come; it is also much more insightful than most.'