Book excerpt: In October 1944, the National Unity Government of newly liberated Greece faced a severe inflationary crisis. Although Greece could count on considerable assistance and advice from its allies, particularly Great Britain, much depended on Greece's own actions and its determination to restore economic normality. Success was meager, and by the time the British pulled out of Greece in the spring of 1947, economic stability remained elusive. Britain and the Greek Economic Crisis, 1944-1947 concentrates on Anglo-Greek interactions in economic matters during the political and economic turmoil between the Axis occupation of Greece and the Greek civil war. By analyzing the Greek crisis primarily in economic terms, Athanasios Lykogiannis avoids the political partisanship that has colored much previous writing on the subject and throws light on many issues neglected by earlier authors. Drawing on a range of untapped British, American, and Greek archival sources, as well as extensive secondary sources, the author examines the interplay of political and economic factors, such as the ingrained polarization of Greek society and the weakness and timidity of the country's governments, that aggravated and prolonged the crisis.