Michael

I really enjoyed this book. It covers the history of the Athenian navy from the events leading up to the Persian invasion of Greece, to the ultimate downfall of the navy at the hands of the successors to Alexander the Great. The book basically uses the story of the navy to shed light on the political and cultural developments in Athens and the region. I found it to be a very engaging way of dealing with the history. The book is well written, and the narration is perfect for the book. I listened to this on a series of long car rides, and found myself not wanting to leave the car after I arrived. Some people have complained about the long series of battles and people. I knew very little about the history of Greece before listening to this, and I still found that I was able to follow it. It was useful to go to Wikipedia once in a while to look at a map, since the audio format is not ideal for conveying that, and also to remind myself who some of the important people were, but as long as you listen in moderate sized chunks, it is not that big of a problem. I actually found it interesting to follow the long series of events, following people in successive generations starting as young men and women, being affected by the historical circumstances they find themselves in and influencing the circumstances, until they grow old and are replaced by the next generation. As the title says, it is an "epic story".