• The Persian Expedition

  • By: Xenophon
  • Narrated by: Pat Bottino
  • Length: 10 hrs and 5 mins
  • 4.0 out of 5 stars (58 ratings)

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The Persian Expedition  By  cover art

The Persian Expedition

By: Xenophon
Narrated by: Pat Bottino
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Publisher's summary

Xenophon, after being exiled from Athens, spent the last years of his life hunting, writing, and recalling in his books the great days of the Persian expedition.

This record of one of the most famous marches in history contains an account of the day-to-day life of ordinary men and soldiers. It demonstrates how Greek theories of government and morality worked out in practice - for with his admiration for the great, Xenophon had a rare ability to understand and describe the outlook of lesser men.

His own fortunes, too, are intensely moving. Cool, calculating, brilliant, and intensely pious, he is one of the most fascinating characters of history, and his account of his own doings is so far from being self-conscious that he seems to be one of the very few Greeks whose ways and manners have been accurately documented.

Translated by Rex Warner.

Public Domain (P)1999 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

What listeners say about The Persian Expedition

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

did Stephen Hawking narrate this?

Great story, terrible narrator. Very mechanical in delivery and absolutely no emotion in his voice.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Better know something about the history first

What did you like best about The Persian Expedition? What did you like least?

very detailed account of the wars and societies

What other book might you compare The Persian Expedition to and why?

Any additional comments?

Sort of tough lister due to the many Greek names that made it difficult to sort through

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Boring reader

The reader has a monotonous delivery. This book put me to sleep. Very sing-song.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Story is great. Narrator is initially mechanical

Story is a classic but the narrator is initially mechanical and monotone & robotic & only later does he affect voices and personality in dialogue. Someone should have avoided Rex Warrens translation and gone with the Dakyns translation that is available online.
Also someone needs to make professional audiobooks available through other distributors other than Audible & Amazon. Someone ought to offer competing offerings and break this monopoly that allows the monopolists to mistreat consumers.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Compelling, timeless

Would you listen to The Persian Expedition again? Why?

It's just such a good yarn

Any additional comments?

The narrator here was just perfect. The "Joe Friday" just the facts narration suited the never-a-dull minute factual text.

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