I will state before I begin that this book was clearly not intended for me: I was hoping, as a classicist, to gain a little more insight into some major figures in Greek history, including in periods and places I haven’t studied in a while, and this is clearly not for the well-versed in Greek history. This is more intended for older children (I would think) as an introduction to Greek culture and the major figures, though perhaps it would also help those less well-versed in this subject to understand allusions made to the ancient world elsewhere. Nevertheless, I’ll try not to judge the book purely on my own (misguided) expectations, but on its merits in and of itself.

I have to wonder why they used the Roman names for gods and heroes in a book about the famous men of Greece: perhaps it would have been better to include (or footnote) the Roman names on introduction of the Greek characters, for the sake of clarity? I found it a little jarring to hear about Greek figures through the Roman nomenclature all the time. Some characters are also not strictly Greek (e.g. Croesus the Lydian, and Cyrus the Mede). The book also makes the perhaps controversial decision to mix up clearly mythological characters (i.e. Theseus) with very real and rather well-attested historical figures (Pericles), which might be confusing for children, though on the positive side it also does a good job of balancing the more established figures in Greek mythology and history with some lesser known ones, like Epaminondas, who still deserve recognition.

On a more positive note, the style is clear and entertaining for its audience, and doesn’t require any prior knowledge of the periods of history concerned, and does include some interesting tidbits about the figures concerned that may not be otherwise known. Not all the profiles included are quite as engaging as others, but I expect this is largely a matter of personal opinion. All in all, this is a perfectly fine book for a basic introduction or revision of the predominant Greek figures, but perhaps not so suitable for those looking for a more detailed or insightful view.