I finished this book thoroughly convinced by McLynn's thesis about Richard and John, and his book kept me locked to its pages for four hours at a stretch without even stirring to switch on my kettle

Marvellously readable and strikingly opinionated... McLynn clearly relishes putting the boot into the villain of his piece... This is popular history as it should be written: full blooded, yet firmly grounded in scholarship

A rattling good read

History at its most readable

Brilliant... a good example of how fresh scholarship can illuminate dusty but vital corners of history

Brilliantly entertaining... Fascinating and brilliantly detailed

It has taken a mere 2,700 years for archaeology to reveal Homer as a truly talented historian, not just a peddler of second hand myths. Contrary to age-old academic prejudice, finds since 1988 have confirmed that the Trojan War happened much as Homer - the Iron Age writer with an inspired grasp of Bronze Age culture - related it. Homer's heroes remain mythical, but so much else is spot-on that Barry Strauss extends the benefit of the doubt by re-telling The Iliad in his own chattily lyrical style as if Achilles & Co were as real as the other proven evidence. Cracking book ...

In this gripping reconstruction [Strauss] deploys an impressive array of archaeological, historical and linguistic evidence...

A gripping account

DeGroot tells the story of the American lunar mission with verve and elegance

Fascinating, gossipy and occasionally hilarious