On one level a page-turning romp through the ancient world, on another it is a moving reflective human story full of ideas on the nature of happiness, fulfilment and life itself. There’s the strong air of the fairy tale in this: characters are simplistic, motives are haphazard, society barely exists outside the palace, the land is at peace and no outside action can affect it. What makes this a special book is less to do with the events, the battles, the conquests and so on, but the effect on the characters. This is a beautiful re-telling of Herodotus’s famous tale and I don’t think I can recommend it highly enough.

It follows the life of Croesus, the titular Last King of Lydia, and how he deals with life throwing him around to some of the highest and lowest positions available to people 2,500 years ago. The first excellent thing about this book is that even if, like me, you’re an ancient history dunderhead, Leach eases you through it effortlessly. He also plays with Plato a bit, offering up a philosopher-king who becomes more of a philosopher as his station falls in life, resulting in the greatest insights arriving concomitant with his enslavement.

Many Thanks to the team at Atlantic for sending me a copy of this book, and to Kate for tipping me off. What did anyone’s life matter, king or soldier or slave, if they could be replaced in moments and the world go on without them? I wasn't sure what to expect from this book but I found it to be a compelling story of the ancient world.

This is a book without large set piece battles or gallons of blood and core but studies the human psyche and emotions.Through Croesus's life he sees what his failings as king had been and humbly learns from Isocrates, formerly his slave in Sardis, now also slave to Cyrus. So long as you allowed a king the illusion of servility he would go with your calmly, even as you led him to his death. There is something in the collective consciousness that enables these stories to resonate with each subsequent generation, allowing ancient wisdom to put out new roots in fresh soil.