From Cyrus to Alexander: A History of the Persian Empire

This book is not for the faint of heart. It is over 1000 pages, counting notes, and is very comprehensive in its scope. Briant not only provides a very thorough political narrative of the Persian Empire but also covers social, military, religious, and economic matters. The author does a brilliant job of explaining the sources, or lack thereof, and providing equal time to all of the available sources: from the heavily biased Histories of the Greek Herodotus to recently uncovered archaeolgical inscriptions. The translation from the original French is also very solid. This book is without peer in the realm of Persian History, and is unlikely to be replaced as the standard work on the subject for a long time. Truly a great read for anyone interested in ancient history.