Xenophon's Retreat: Greece, Persia, and the End of the Golden Age

Xenophon was an Athenian with Spartan leanings that joined a mercenary force employed by one side of a fraternal conflict in Persia. When his patron was defeated and killed, Xenophon set out with the mercenary forces to return to Greece. It was not an easy trip. This was a tight and tidy job of presenting a fascinating historic rife with intrigue battles, hardships, betrayals, individual valor and at least some kind of triumph. It's crammed with the kind of facts and asides that I find absolutely necessary to bring history alive, but so much more. I found elements of the archetypal hero's journey with detours into the nature (and follies) of war, group dynamics, political maneuvering and the fount of classical philosophy. Very well done and highly recommended.