EDITOR'S NOTE

The Society of Cretan Historical Studies holds and preserves the greater part of the Nikos Kazantzakis archive at the Historical Museum of Crete. Two rooms at the museum house a reconstruction of Kazantzakis' library and study.

The Nikos Kazantzakis Files were compiled by the Society of Cretan Historical Studies and first appeared on the World Wide Web in 1997, to mark the fortieth anniversary of the author's death. The original pages formed the basis of the CD-ROM released as part of the Cultural Olympiad Kazantzakis Programme (2004).

The Nikos Kazantzakis Files application has been redesigned and enriched in the framework of the "DEVELOPMENT OF CULTURAL INFRASTRUCTURE FOR THE HISTORICAL MUSEUM OF CRETE" project.

The Nikos Kazantzakis Files are aimed at those visitors to the Historical Museum who would like to examine the exhibits, browse through the photograph album, look at book illustrations and covers, and hear the author's voice.

They are also aimed at readers of literature who would like to learn more about the author's work and its impact on his contemporaries, as well as how it has been evaluated in recent times. Furthermore, the pages will give the reader an insight into the author's philosophical and political preoccupations, as expressed in hand-written letters to those close to his heart. Lastly, both website and CD-ROM are aimed at students of literature. They provide a detailed list of works and a bibliography, brief academic studies, a press archive and an experimental system for the comparison of successive versions of one text, beginning with the first draft and ending with its adaptation for opera.

The Nikos Kazantzakis Files have been created so as to offer computer users access to important and wide-ranging information of various types. Their intention is not promote any particular view of the author, who continues to be the subject of debate. At all events, the intention is to offer at least some insight into a complex literary and intellectual persona who defies simplification.

The Nikos Kazantzakis Files are laid out in the form of a mini encyclopaedia, with a dense network of reciprocal links. This allows users to chart their own course through the pages. Depending on their interests, users may concentrate on the study of thematic units or make use of hyperlink technology to browse as they wish.

Alexis Kalokerinos