This is a very easy read which puts the classical world into perspective in a very structured way. Very well written and easily digestible. The one howler and massive error which prevented this from getting 5 stars is that the author says that the Elgin Marbles were stolen. They were not. They were bought with a traceable agreement. Greece didn't exist at the time and the Ottomon's, who ran the region which is now Greece and, in particular, Athens, were using the marbled freeze for target practice. If Lord Elgin had not intervened and offered to buy the marbles from the Turks they would have been destroyed. There is no legal or moral basis for them being returned to Greece. They were not stolen and are legally British. Lord Elgin removed the marbles in daylight in full view of the Turks who agreed that Lord Elgin had legally bought them. As in so many current books (and this is about the 4th consecutive book in which this has happened) the authors seems to have to follow a left wind extremist viewpoint. It questions the accuracy of the rest of the book even thought it was well written.