Vidal's historical novel set in the 5th century BC and narrated by Cyrus Spitama, son of a Persian prince and Greek sorceress, grandson of the prophet Zoroaster, and ambassador to the courts of India, China and Greece. Pericles, Thucydides, Sophocles and Confucius are among the book's characters.

"Our greatest living historical novelist." - ANTHONY BURGESS

"An historical novel of awesome scope and scholarship." - OBSERVER

"Highly absorbing, rich in history, irony and erudition." - GUARDIAN

"Splendid, serene, magisterial." - SUNDAY TIMES