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Tyrant | 
 enlarge | Author: Valerio Massimo Manfredi
Creator: Sir Derek Jacobi
Publisher: Macmillan Digital Audio
Category: Book
List Price: £16.99
Buy New: £5.99
You Save: £11.00 (65%)
New (18) Used (2) from £5.99
Avg. Customer Rating:  11 reviews
Sales Rank: 264466
Format: Audiobook
Media: Audio CD
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 5.7 x 4.9 x 0.9
ISBN: 0230704174
EAN: 9780230704176
ASIN: 0230704174
Publication Date: July 4, 2008
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Condition: In stock and dispatched from UK
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| Customer Reviews: Read 6 more reviews...
 A Thin Slice of History April 16, 2008
As usual Manfredi writes reasonably well and the story at least has the benefit of some sense of reality. But, and its a big but, I always come away from one of his novels with a sense of disappointment. The book is too brief, the characters are not explored fully and large slices of history are simply ignored. The conclusion that Dionysis fails because of his absolutism is trite and is not explored properly. As usual Manfredi sacrifices a the opportunity to write a really good book in the interests of airport sales. This, of course, is not uncommon nowadays, but I really do think that a bit more effort should have been put in. We see the story of Dionysis but never really understand it or him. Verdict - could have done better.
 Manfredi needs a new editor June 10, 2007
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
I have read two other Manfredi books besides this one and they all share one characteristic, to one degree or another. There are too many instances where the English used just isn't, well . . . "right". Either the word is wrong or the phrasing of the sentence is stiff and awkward. I assume that English is the author's second language (Italian being the first) and that everything he writes goes through an editor. Or maybe he dictates in Italian and it is then translated? Whichever, the instances are often and jarring enough that they become a distraction. How much of an editor would it take to prevent assaulting the reader with something like "they refurbished their water supply"? Add to this the tendency to make most of the characters sound like Homeric translations and I find Manfredi quite tiring.
Enjoyable - but not a classic March 24, 2007
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
When I started reading this one day on the bus I got so absorbed by the story that I missed my stop. The early parts of the book, with the story of how Dionysius' character was formed and almost elegiac descriptions of the doomed Greek colonies of western Sicily awaiting their destruction at the hands of the Carthaginians, are very good indeed. But like others I felt that the later sections, which are much more episodic with large stretches of time between them going undescribed, were less enthralling. And I too found the ending very abrupt and so somewhat disappointing. Still, a good read and I'm glad I read it.
 Historical Fiction at it's Best September 22, 2006
7 out of 11 found this review helpful
Few authors can be better equipped to write about the history of ancient Greece and Rome than Valerio Massimo Manfredi. Professor of archaeology at the university of Milan, he has carried out many excavations and expeditions in the Mediterranean region. He has produced many factual books on historical matters, mainly military and has still found the time to write several novels and this is one of the best of them.
I think that this is one of the authors best books to date and he has written several excellent ones including the Alexander trilogy which received world wide acclaim and probably brought the authors name to the forefront of ancient historical writers.
The book takes place in 412 AD and charts the clash of one man and a superpower. The man is Dionysius of Syracuse. The superpower is Carthage, a city with thriving trade links and one of the most powerful navies in the Mediterranean. How can a 20-year-old even think of going against the might and resources of a place such as Carthage.
Thus begins the journey into manhood of a man who rose to gather one of the greatest armies in the Ancient World and also invented many of the trappings of war that lasted for centuries. Machines never seen before by mankind. Machines that could wreak havoc and destruction on a scale never before dreamed of. Dionysius also invented the quinquereme a five module battleship that had fifty oarsmen to propel through the water.
But who was the man Dionysius, was he the ruthless, murdering tyrant that his enemies depicted or was he an intelligent man born ahead of his time. History has lumped him with the so called tyrants, but the greatness of the man is impossible to deny.
Couldn't finish it May 29, 2006
10 out of 12 found this review helpful
Highly interested in ancient history, I approached this novel with enthusiasm and high hopes but ultimately I felt let down. While Manfredi's characterisation of Dionysius is very good - throughout the story, his motives and actions are wonderfully clear - I found the style of the piece far too dull.
I think the problem is that Manfredi has tried to cover a very large chunk of history in what is an average-sized book, and in doing so he has skimmed over some parts of the history. While this is possibly a good thing - every little detail might get boring - the way that Manfredi does this is lacking. I feel that he spends a lot of time telling things and that his narrative when doing this, sometimes covering a period of several years, is uninteresting.
I got about two thirds of my way through the book before I finally lost interest. I know the outcome and while I would normally read on anyway (as I learnt while studying ancient Greek plays, it's not so much as the outcome as the journey getting there), in this case I probably won't.
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