THE PERSIAN WAR

TV's Inspector Dalgleish gives a conscientious and energetic rendering of an uncredited eighteenth or nineteenth-century translation of this masterpiece by the father of modern historians. With never-flagging artistry, Marsden does everything an actor can do to hide how difficult this book is to read aloud. Who'd have thought that such a raspy voice could be so pleasant and expressive? Unfortunately, neither his hard work nor the brief, printed notes by abridger Perry Keenlyside will help listeners who've never heard of satraps, Lacedaemonians, Xerxes and triremes, who will be lost without maps and footnotes. On the other hand, busy students or, better, those who already know and love antiquity will undoubtedly enjoy and learn from this fine production. Y.R. ©AudioFile, Portland, Maine [Published: NOV/DEC 96]