This was a good bedtime book. After a few minutes trying to keep the Seleucid leaders straight I was usually ready to sleep. But given some daylight reading and a bit of concentration I found it rewarding. The author writes with great confidence. How can he know the motivations of these schemers? I often wondered. But I believed his version. ( )

Hits the sweet spot between academic tome and popular history. ( )

Read 2018. ( )