booklady's Reviews > The Classical Greeks

The Classical Greeks is the middle book in a historical trilogy by Michael Grant. I started with this one because it covers the time period of most interest to me and I already owned it.

Each chapter in The Classical Greeks is divided into 7 periods and told through the stories of 37 key figures. The wars, large and small, as well as times of relative peace, determine the various ages which Grant has chosen. His prominent players come from all walks of life: philosophers, warriors, politicians, artists, doctors, historians, builders, poets, rulers, playwrights, orators, sculptors, teachers, etc. They each impacted Greek history significantly; their individual stories became part of the larger collective story.

Due to the individual chapter biographies, it lacks flow; the offset being, it allows focus on just one individual if desired.

Although I listened to the book, I found it frequently necessary to go back and reread or re-listen to large sections as there was so much information to take in. This is one of those books I would not recommend in the audio unless you also have a copy of the text. That said, it was so good and so packed with information, I already want to start over and listen to it again.

Grant is an excellent historian!