Books by Gore Vidal
“I think it’s key theme is the impact of Christianity, it’s in many ways is deeply anti-Christian novel. And at the heart of that is a protest against the way Christianity altered the sexuality of the ancient world.” Read more...
Historical Fiction Set in the Ancient World
Harry Sidebottom, Classicist
“Vidal has clearly read the historical sources. He must have looked at the art and architecture. The story is crafted so carefully. The realia, the indicia of daily life, is echoed so well. But also, the bigger questions, the big what-ifs of Persian history are handled so beautifully, too. He’s also aware of things we talked about earlier, that the Persians didn’t craft their history in ways that we do in the West. He indulges in that, he delights in that, of storytelling within stories. It’s a really fantastic book in its evocation of Persian life.” Read more...
The best books on The Achaemenid Persian Empire
Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones, Historian
Interviews where books by Gore Vidal were recommended
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1
The Persian Empire
by J M Cook -
2
Discovering Cyrus: a Persian Conqueror Astride the Ancient World
by Reza Zaghamee -
3
The Persian Empire: A Corpus of Sources from the Achaemenid Period
by Amélie Kuhrt -
4
The Palace of Darius at Susa: The Great Royal Residence of Achaemenid Persia
by Jean Perrot -
5
Creation
by Gore Vidal
The best books on The Achaemenid Persian Empire, recommended by Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones
The best books on The Achaemenid Persian Empire, recommended by Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones
At the height of its greatness, the Achaemenid Persian Empire was the largest empire the world had ever known. Too often it is given merely a villainous walk-on part in the heroic history of classical Greece. Here, historian Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones explains why that needs correcting, looks at its cultural achievements and discusses why the first Persian empire is worth studying in its own right and on its own terms.
Historical Fiction Set in the Ancient World, recommended by Harry Sidebottom
The ancient world offers an excellent canvas for historical fiction but too many books fall victim to anachronistic thinking, says Oxford ancient historian Harry Sidebottom, author of two series of historical novels set in Ancient Rome. Here he recommends some of his own favourites, all written during the golden age of classical historical fiction half a century ago.
