The Last King Of Lydia

Author: Tim Leach

Stock information

General Fields

  • : 36.99 NZD
  • : 9780857899187
  • : Atlantic Books
  • : Atlantic Books
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  • : March 2013
  • : 210mm X 148mm
  • : United Kingdom
  • : 36.99
  • : May 2013
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  • : books

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  • : Tim Leach
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  • : Paperback
  • : 1
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  • : 320
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Barcode 9780857899187
9780857899187

Description

A brilliant and strikingly original debut novel, "The Last King of Lydia" imagines the bloody rise and fall of Croesus, 'the richest man on earth', and powerfully shows how happiness, even for those who have everything, is so often elusive. A beaten king stands on top of a pyre. His conqueror, the Persian warrior Cyrus, signals to his guards; they step forward and touch flaming torches to the dry wood. Croesus, once the richest man of the ancient world, is to be burned alive. As he watches the flames catch, Croesus looks over his life with clarity. He remembers the time he asked the old philosopher, Solon, who was the happiest man in the world. With his wealth, Croesus used to think it was him. But then his wealth could not remove the spear from his dying son's chest; could not cure the mute boy with matted hair; could not make him as wise as his own slave; could not bring his wife's love back; could not stop his army being torn apart and his kingdom defeated. As the old philosopher had replied, a man's happiness can only be measured when he is dead. The first coils of smoke wrap around Croesus' neck like a noose.
It is suitable for readers of Madeline Miller's "Song of Achilles", Mary Renault, David Malouf, Annabel Lyon and Gore Vidal's "Creation".

Author description

Tim Leach is in his late twenties and lives in London. He is a recent graduate of the MA writing course at Warwick University, and is now teaching creative writing there on the undergraduate programme. This is his first novel.