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Cyrus the Great
Cyrus the Great was a brilliant general who founded the Persian Empire, greatest empire of its day. He was also the king who freed the Jews from exile at Babylon and allowed them to return to Jerusalem, with the Bible describing him as the only non Jew anointed by god. Cyrus influenced the US Bill of Rights, and is the biblical figure to whom US President Donald Trump has been favorably compared by Christian evangelicals and the Prime Minister of Israel.
In this first ever modern biography of Cyrus, noted historical biographer and author of 43 books Stephen Dando-Collins describes Cyrus' fraught youth, his rise to power via rebellion, his dashing military campaigns that destroyed the Median, Lydian and Babylonian empires, and his uniquely magnanimous reign.
With his usual depth of research and highly readable narrative Dando-Collins cuts through myth and folklore to deliver a fascinating account of a fascinating life.
In this first ever modern biography of Cyrus, noted historical biographer and author of 43 books Stephen Dando-Collins describes Cyrus' fraught youth, his rise to power via rebellion, his dashing military campaigns that destroyed the Median, Lydian and Babylonian empires, and his uniquely magnanimous reign.
With his usual depth of research and highly readable narrative Dando-Collins cuts through myth and folklore to deliver a fascinating account of a fascinating life.
Kindle Edition
First published July 14, 2020
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About the author
Stephen Dando-Collins
50 books126 followersStephen Dando-Collins is the multi-award-winning author of 48 books. British reviewer, noted playwright Robin Hawdon, says that Dando-Collins is "the modern age's foremost dramatizer of Greek and Roman history," while American reviewer bestselling military author Lt. Colonel Dave Grossman has described Dando-Collins as "a literary giant." Considered an authority on the legions of ancient Rome, Dando-Collins has written ancient and modern history, children's novels, scientific nonfiction, and biographies. The bulk of his works deal with military history, ranging from Greek, Persian and Roman times to American, British and Australian 19th century history and World I and Word War II.
Many of his books have been translated into foreign languages including Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Polish, Dutch, Russian, Albanian and Korean.
His most acclaimed book on the ancient military, 'LEGIONS OF ROME,' was the culmination of decades of research into Rome's imperial legions.
Dando-Collins aims to travel roads that others have not, unearthing new facts and opening new perspectives on often forgotten or overlooked people and aspects of history.
He has two new books in 2024: 'CAESAR VERSUS POMPEY: Determining Rome's Greatest General, Statesman & Nation-Builder,' (Turner, US), and 'THE BUNA SHOTS: The Amazing Story Behind Two Photographs that Changed the Course of World War Two,' (Australian Scholarly Publishing).
Many of his books have been translated into foreign languages including Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Polish, Dutch, Russian, Albanian and Korean.
His most acclaimed book on the ancient military, 'LEGIONS OF ROME,' was the culmination of decades of research into Rome's imperial legions.
Dando-Collins aims to travel roads that others have not, unearthing new facts and opening new perspectives on often forgotten or overlooked people and aspects of history.
He has two new books in 2024: 'CAESAR VERSUS POMPEY: Determining Rome's Greatest General, Statesman & Nation-Builder,' (Turner, US), and 'THE BUNA SHOTS: The Amazing Story Behind Two Photographs that Changed the Course of World War Two,' (Australian Scholarly Publishing).
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
November 1, 2023
Not really impressed by this book. Borrowed from the library, but it has issues right off the bat with the maps. It's city of Babylon map is based off a hypothetical layout of Babylon drawn by Unger in 1930, which we've known for over 30 years is a total work of fiction. Unger's reconstruction of Babylon guesses at the layout of entire West bank, which has still never been excavated, and puts two extra gates on the East bank that never existed, while putting the gate names in the wrong locations. Given this book was written in 2020, we can do better.
The map of Media on the next page is equally pulled from whole cloth, given we have no written sources from Media to have the faintest clue where their empire's boundaries lay, and it marks territory far to the east of the Zagros Mountains. Our only source on the extent of Media that would include that territory comes from Herodotus, who says Cyrus would go on to conquer them after he was in control of Media and its armies, but they certainly weren't under the Median banner in 552BC before Cyrus' rebellion, as the map claims.
The book tries to writes the story of Cyrus in a readable manner. Meaning it's taking portions of many sources and folding them together into a single narrative. This decision means it's threading some extremely dubious sources written half a millennium after the events, in amongst more proven reliable contemporary ones, while giving all of them the same weight.
It also has some truly execrable copy-editing. I made it to page 44, where I hit, "The most obvious choice was one of the two sons of Astyages's youngest daughter, Amytis, sister of Cyrus's morher[sic] - not to be confused with Astyages's sister, the queen of Babylon, after whom she had obviously been named. These boys had been. These boys had been fathered by Amytis's Median noble husband..."
At which point I was out.
The map of Media on the next page is equally pulled from whole cloth, given we have no written sources from Media to have the faintest clue where their empire's boundaries lay, and it marks territory far to the east of the Zagros Mountains. Our only source on the extent of Media that would include that territory comes from Herodotus, who says Cyrus would go on to conquer them after he was in control of Media and its armies, but they certainly weren't under the Median banner in 552BC before Cyrus' rebellion, as the map claims.
The book tries to writes the story of Cyrus in a readable manner. Meaning it's taking portions of many sources and folding them together into a single narrative. This decision means it's threading some extremely dubious sources written half a millennium after the events, in amongst more proven reliable contemporary ones, while giving all of them the same weight.
It also has some truly execrable copy-editing. I made it to page 44, where I hit, "The most obvious choice was one of the two sons of Astyages's youngest daughter, Amytis, sister of Cyrus's morher[sic] - not to be confused with Astyages's sister, the queen of Babylon, after whom she had obviously been named. These boys had been. These boys had been fathered by Amytis's Median noble husband..."
At which point I was out.
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April 13, 2021After an initial, interesting chapter on the ancient written sources about king Cyrus (most are heavily biased) the author outlines what we know about this person, his rise to power, his military conquests and his death as well as the immediate geopolitical aftermath.
The three highlights are: the masterful coup d'état uniting Persian forces with a disgruntled Median opposition; the defeat of king Croesus of Lydia; and the conquest of Babylon. A lot of attention is then paid to his alleged support for the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem as described in the Bible book of Ezra.
The approach is unorthodox and feels distinctly un-academic; it does not help that the author repeatedly refers to the "afterword by Professor David Richter" (thereby conveying the impression that it must have been written before the actual book). Nevertheless, the recurring explicit discussions of contradicting sources make this book more interesting than just an entertaining linear story.
The three highlights are: the masterful coup d'état uniting Persian forces with a disgruntled Median opposition; the defeat of king Croesus of Lydia; and the conquest of Babylon. A lot of attention is then paid to his alleged support for the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem as described in the Bible book of Ezra.
The approach is unorthodox and feels distinctly un-academic; it does not help that the author repeatedly refers to the "afterword by Professor David Richter" (thereby conveying the impression that it must have been written before the actual book). Nevertheless, the recurring explicit discussions of contradicting sources make this book more interesting than just an entertaining linear story.
September 3, 2023
A great narrative about Cyrus who is often overlooked in the annals of Greek history, overshadowed by Darius and Xerxes with their respective invasions. A quick narrative pace broken up by a lot of archaeological and religious references which I already knew about so was less interested in. Dando-Collins does a great initial analysis of the source materials (Xenophon was a Cyrus fanboy tbh) at the beginning of the book, but the book has some weird focus problems. Glad I read it though as it's SUPER easy to digest. Recommended.
March 15, 2021
Well written biography of an overlooked yet fascinating historical figure. I couldn't help thinking as I read about Cyrus' life what a great movie it would make! Persia gets so little attention compared to Greece and Rome and yet it was one of the largest, richest, and longest lasting empires in history and profoundly affected the subsequent development of the Middle East.
July 12, 2023
This was a highly informative book. The only issue i had with it was the last few pages where donald trump was compared to Cyrus the Great, which, in my opinion, should have been scratched from the book. To compare a fool like trump to one of the most revered leaders in ancient times (even to state facts) ... I don't know what the author was thinking.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 13, 2025
Muy buen comienzo, sin embargo a medida que avanza se centra demasiado en los judíos y temas religiosos, sobre todo al final con la candidatura de Trump, parece más propaganda religiosa o política que otra cosa. Hay varios detalles sobre la historia de Ciro que se terminaron omitiendo, es una desgracia tomando en cuenta lo bien hecho que hasta la mitad de la historia se encuentra el libro.
December 27, 2021
This book started strong and great, with the almost mythological childhood of Cyrus to all the great battles. It then got a little boring (for me) later in his life when it came to his relationship with religion and how it impacted his rule.
All together a history I really enjoyed learning about.
All together a history I really enjoyed learning about.
dnf
June 29, 2023The analysis of sources and the mythological beginnings of Cyrus's life were interesting. However, the book quickly turned into "this happened. Then this happened..." The analysis and interesting writing became very dry, and I decided not to keep reading.
August 13, 2024
The sheer interest of the subject matter redeems this, where the author tries to force some convoluted analysis of Donald Trump’s personage with regards to American evangelicals. South Park does a better job explaining the rise of Cyrus with Scott Tenerman than this book does.
February 5, 2021
Does a good job of sifting through the sources and putting together a coherent and entertaining narrative.
May 2, 2021
Skimmed through it ..
The author is trying hard to be objective with the limited resources available
Great effort to relate between biblical scriptures and the cuneiform mud tablets
The author is trying hard to be objective with the limited resources available
Great effort to relate between biblical scriptures and the cuneiform mud tablets
August 26, 2021
Questionably accurate.
August 30, 2021
Fantastisk detaljeret og velskrevet moderne biografi om en af historiens giganter
Dejligt med en moderne og fyldestgørende biografi om Cyrus d.2 af Persien
Dejligt med en moderne og fyldestgørende biografi om Cyrus d.2 af Persien
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews