About the book
Xenophon of Athens wrote this account of Cyrus the Great, the ruler who founded the Persian Empire and extended its reach, and Larry Hedrick's version freshens its voice, style and diction for modern readers, replacing a stiff English translation from 1906. The narrative follows Cyrus through his military campaigns. He is credited with conquering Babylon, freeing 40,000 Jews from captivity and writing the first charter of human rights. Historian Will Durant observed that his enemies, knowing he was lenient, did not fight him with the courage of men facing death. Iranians called him the Father, Babylonians the Liberator and Greeks the Law-Giver. Hedrick pitches the edition at executives, managers, military officers and government officials.
Ryan Holiday called it the best biography ever written of Cyrus the Great, noting that Xenophon, like Plato a student of Socrates, chose to study people. He added that its lessons were ones Machiavelli learned.
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This book has 1 recommendation
Ryan Holiday (Founder/Brass Check)
Xenophon, like Plato, was a student of Socrates. For whatever reason, his work is not nearly as famous, even though it is far more applicable. Unlike Plato, Xenophon studied people. His greatest book is about the latter, it’s the best biography written of Cyrus the Great (aka the father of human rights). There are so many great lessons in here and I wish more people would read it. Machiavelli learned them, as this book inspired The Prince.
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