ROME AND PERSIA The Seven Hundred Year Rivalry

Classical history, that most venerable of subjects, is most effectively narrated by British voices, the more cultivated the better. Mark Elstob fills that requirement with grace and precision, and with a composure that keeps the bloodier elements of ancient geopolitics at a comfortable distance. In historian and novelist Goldsworthy's history of the ancient West's most powerful rivals, he finds his thread in the expanse of time and geography covered, rather than in any strict timeline or chain of events. Ancient Persia is lesser known to most listeners, which gives this title a special interest, along with the excellent narration. Unmistakable, too, and profoundly moving, is the frequency with which so many of these ancient points of conflict reappear on the map of today's outbreaks. D.A.W. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine [Published: OCTOBER 2023]