Last of the Amazons by Steven Pressfield

This ai another of Steven Pressfield's constructions of research and imagination held together by the cement of a wonderful narrative flow. Set circa 1250 BC in the Athens of Theseus, slayer of the Minotaur and creator of the template for modern politics ( yes, he is the one to blame) it tells the story of his voyage to the land of the fierce warrior women known to us as the Amazons and one of the first great culture clashes of recorded history. The city dwelling, sea roving Athenians are instinctively distrusted by the free-wheeling, range riding Amazons and when Theseus and the warrior Queen Antiope fall in love and elope their desire for revenge outweighs all other matters. Raising a huge army they invade Attica and beseige the vastly outnumbered Athenians. They fail and depart from the pages of history except as brief references in Homer and Plutarch and are now regarded as myth and legend rather than fact. Pressfield spares us nothing in the telling of the brutal battles that are fought hand-to-hand with a blood chilling savagery. No Geneva Conventions in those days! He creates a cast of fully rounded characters and through them tells a story of love and hate, blood and tragedy that ranks with the most dramatic tales of the Classical world. As far as I am aware Mr Pressfield has published nothing since "The Afghan Campaign" , surely we are due another of his splendid historical novels soon!