London Hellenic Society, excerpt from Society's letter to Dr. Graham Speake, Hon. Sec. of the Friends of Mount Athos, announcing the prize and commenting on the importance of his book, Mount Athos, Renewal in Paradise (Yale University Press, 2002)
Dear Dr. Speake,
It is a great pleasure to inform you that you have won the 2002 Criticos Prize for your book on Mount Athos. On behalf of the London Hellenic Society which administers the prize I offer you our congratulations and look forward to meeting you in the near future.
Athos has never had a historical/religious/cultural presentation in English which does justice to its great heritage; your book achieves that and opens new fields to the non-Greek reader who wishes to understand the Athonite peninsula and its Orthodox Byzantine traditions. Thank you very much for this achievement.