The Last King of Lydia

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I particularly enjoyed the relationship between Croesus and Cyrus, the Conqueror and the conquered in an uneasy alliance. Although I do appreciate the costume-pageantry details of Colleen McCullough's "Masters of Rome" series or the grit of Robert Harris' Cicero books, Leach's approach to his semi-mythological subject matter works well in its own context. All of the main characters are multidimensional, easy to relate to and to empathise with, and historical fact is woven seamlessly into the storyline.

If you absolutely hate anything remotely like spoilers, you might want to stop reading now, although I don't think these will qualify as plot revealers. What makes this a special book is less to do with the events, the battles, the conquests and so on, but the effect on the characters. Having "known" how the story line would progress beforehand, I found the early part of the plot to be quite bland and unexciting. It is a beautiful comparison between someone who believes he is all powerful coming up against a true giant of a man who will make his mark on history. By taking on the might of the Persian Empire in the quest for even more wealth, Croesus meets his match in Cyrus of Persia, an expert military strategist.

The first excellent thing about this book is that even if, like me, you’re an ancient history dunderhead, Leach eases you through it effortlessly. Meeting just Croesus, his immediate family, and one or two advisors felt unrealistic and implausible. It is only when Croesus has truly lost everything that he reflects on the words of the seer and how painfully true they have proved to be.

Engaging things happen, but it is clear that the events are less important than what those events mean or how they can be interpreted. The friendship developed between Croesus-Isocrates-Maia after the fall of Lydia did not convince me as well. Fortunately, the book does go in a slightly more inventive direction once we get past the traditional Croesus narrative. It is a strange friendship that he strikes up with Isocrates as a fellow slave; an odd respect that he learns for his conqueror, the Persian King Cyrus.

Christian Rodska interprets this well written and thought provoking book with a depth of skill and sensitivity that surpasses expectation, even though I am a huge fan of his Falco readings. Many Thanks to the team at Atlantic for sending me a copy of this book, and to Kate for tipping me off.

He does some dreadful things, but is at times oddly innocent, at least in how he thinks about the world. It is heart-wrenching to read about his reflections on his short life, as he marched to death, fighting for his country. If you absolutely hate anything remotely like spoilers, you might want to stop reading now, although I don’t think these will qualify as plot revealers. that's how i feel about this one, which is a shame because i think i would have liked it in the right mood. As the novel progresses, Croseus comes to understand true happiness lies in the smaller things in life.I didn’t feel like I was getting the full, rich story, but snatched glimpses of Croesus’ life, the bare bones of the plot needed to keep it moving on but no real fleshing out of the world. We watch as greed and power lead him to gamble his vast wealth and his very kingship in a confrontation with Persia. Leach puts these words in the mouth of a 5th Century BC ruler, yet I’m not sure I’ve read a more apposite phrase to sum up what’s wrong with modern society.