King of the World

The book is a quick read and is a page turner. The interdisciplinary approach of weaving together history, archaeology, and other fields is much appreciated as well.... An excellent book for anyone seeking to learn about Cyrus and the Persian Empire. * Bryn Mawr Classical Review * [Waters] has put together a careful but readable account of what we know about that empire's charismatic founder. * Claremont Review of Books * Matt Waters...is one of those rare scholars capable both of reading the Cyrus Cylinder in its original Standard Babylonian—he includes a new translation as an appendix to his book King of the World—and also of writing about it, and its putative author, in an engaging, approachable way. His study takes us deep inside the career and achievements of Cyrus, while sensibly declining to reconstruct the king's inner life....His portrait of Cyrus is attractive and his research authoritative. * New York Review of Books * Matt Waters' King of the World is an impressive biographical study of one of the most important figures in ancient history. Waters not only situates Cyrus in the context of Near Eastern and world history, but also his reception in the longue dur´ee. * Touraj Daryaee, Maseeh Chair in Persian Studies & Culture, and Director of the Dr. Samuel M. Jordan Center for Persian Studies and Culture, University of California, Irvine * This study of Cyrus the Great is a tour-de-force and will be welcomed and used by teachers, scholars, students, and the interested public. Waters' command of ancient sources and vast knowledge of recent scholarship offers a comprehensive overview of Cyrus, contextualized within the human landscape of the ancient world. Magnificent! * Elspeth Dusinberre, Professor of Distinction, University of Colorado Boulder *