Xenophon's Cyrus the Great

The Arts of Leadership and War

By: Larry Hedrick

Narrated by: Rory Barnett

Length: 6 hrs and 31 mins

Publisher's summary

In 1906, a stilted English translation of Xenophon of Athens' story about Cyrus the Great's military campaigns was published. Now, a century later, a much more accessible edition of one of history's most extraordinary and successful leaders is emerging.

Among his many achievements, this great leader of wisdom and virtue founded and extended the Persian Empire; conquered Babylon; freed 40,000 Jews from captivity; wrote mankind's first human rights charter; and ruled over those he had conquered with respect and benevolence.

According to historian Will Durant, Cyrus the Great's military enemies knew that he was lenient, and they did not fight him with that desperate courage which men show when their only choice is "to kill or die". As a result, the Iranians regarded him as "The Father", the Babylonians as "The Liberator", the Greeks as the "Law-Giver", and the Jews as the "Anointed of the Lord".

By freshening the voice, style, and diction of Cyrus, Larry Hedrick has created a more contemporary Cyrus. A new generation of listeners, including business executives and managers, military officers, and government officials, can now learn about and benefit from Cyrus the Great's extraordinary achievements, which exceeded all other leaders throughout antiquity.

©2006 Larry Hedrick (P)2018 Tantor

Best leadership book that i have read or listened

One of the top if not best leadership book that i have read or listened to.. Outstanding mixture of great history with true human insights. Well worth the listen. I will listen again and take notes the next time.

Must read.

One of the best books on leadership I have ever read. I highly recommend that anyone who is seeking wisdom on leadership to read this book.

this would make a good TV show!

this book would make a good show in the spirit of Netflix's Marco Polo or Starz' Spartacus.

Do you love history?!

It was my second time reading/hearing the book. What a great example of leadership! I wish we still had leaders like Cyrus the Great today!

Awe inspiring

One of the greatest books I’ve ever read. Truly awe inspiring. Words to live by

Best sounding narrator ever

Others can say how great the story is, which it is, however the narrator's voice is the best I've ever heard on Audible. and it deserves a specific mention. now I want to hear other books narrated by him.

Good stuff. Worth it for anyone to read.

This is an excellent book, and worth reading for young and old alike.
Add it to your must-read list, and then read it.

Comes across as bragging

A leadership book written as a story, in the first person is tough to pull off. I am a huge fan of ancient history. While the author did an admirable job of telling the story, it comes across as awkward bragging.

Not the history I was looking for

This is written from the first-person perspective of Cyrus telling his story from beyond the grave. I picked this up primarily because of how much Alexander the Great admired Cyrus. The narration was decent and the story interesting enough, but I question how comparable this is to what Alexander might have read or anyone else in history who read and admired this book.
This is the first translation or edition that I've read. So, I can't criticize too much, but multiple times I felt disappointed and that I might not be getting an honest translation. I'm pretty sure the editor even had Cyrus reference historic events that happened after his and even Xenophon's time. Perhaps I should have taken this line from the store page more seriously and found a different edition more true to Xenophon's original.
"By freshening the voice, style, and diction of Cyrus, Larry Hedrick has created a more contemporary Cyrus."
Now I need to read a different edition to know how much the editor changed and "modernized" it.

Abridged

This might be the unabridged Hedrick book, but it is an abridged and modified version of Xenophon's work. That is not made clear. Also all the modifications of Xenophon's text to the 1st person and removal of certain portions to fit Hendrick's narrative. Not recommended for anyone looking for the book that Cesar, Napoleon, Machiavelli, and other leaders read.