In this compact volume, T. takes his readers to the edges of the Hellenistic world – to Aï Khanoum in Afghanistan, the Villa of the Papyri in Herculaneum, Olbia on the Black Sea, and across the Indian Ocean to India and down the Somali coast – before finally landing in the small town of Priene in Asia Minor. Alexandria, infamous for its museum and library, is not forgotten, but lesser-known cities and towns receive the most detailed attention. In keeping with this principle, it is not the successful founders of dynasties, say Ptolemy or Seleucis, who are the heroes of this volume, but a roguish and charismatic Demetrius the Besieger.

In the first of six chapters, T. introduces ‘The Idea of the Hellenistic’, beginning with an unexpected representative of the age, the philosopher Clearchus of Soli. Born in Cyprus under Achaemenid rule, but a traveller to mainland Greece and eventually Aï Khanoum in Seleucis I's territory, Clearchus is a compelling example of a man caught up in a changing world at the cusp of a new era. T. also covers the topics necessary in an introduction: the origin of the term Hellenistic; traditional dating of the age (along with its problems); the complicated issues involved in talking about Hellenistic culture, world view, or even the Hellenistic world; and our sources for the era.

Chapter 2, ‘From Alexander to Augustus’, quickly takes the reader through a chronological narrative history, especially focusing on the battles between the successors in the years following Alexander's death. There is a lot of potentially confusing information here: a large number of key players – some with the same or a similar name, quick turnover in territory and a wide geographical area. T. successfully brings clarity to the era's chaos, although at the expense of omitting almost any mention of any Hellenistic queens, who played important roles in the alliances formed between different kingdoms. Cleopatra, a ruler in her own right, is an exception. Even so, she is but briefly mentioned a handful of times, and her contribution to history is summed up in two short paragraphs.

The third chapter, ‘Demetrius the Besieger and Hellenistic Kingship’, focuses on the career of the at times kingdomless king, who, along with his father Antigonus, was the first of Alexander's successors to claim a royal title. T. argues that the Greeks chose to worship Demetrius and his counterparts as gods as a solution to their problematic relationship with a new kind of extremely powerful man. He writes, ‘If Demetrius responded favorably to the correct performance of rituals, then he really was, in all important respects, a god just like Zeus or Apollo’ (p. 58). This explanation does not take into account Egypt's tradition of divine kingship. Once Ptolemy declared himself king, he was referred to as divine. T., quoting Plutarch, presents a highly competitive Demetrius who will not refer to his rivals as kings and mocks anyone who does so. It seems highly likely to me, then, that a man refusing to call his fellow kings by their titles would also insist on being a god if anyone else was.

‘Eratosthenes and the System of the World’ begins with the museum and library of Alexandria, and concerns itself with the literary side of the Hellenistic age. T. focuses on the more scientific-minded authors Eratosthenes of Cyrene and Archimedes of Syracuse, passing over Theocritus and Apollonius (and to a large extent, Callimachus, whose entry in the notoriously inaccurate Suda is presented as evidence for his life's work), as well as all of the women poets of the era. T. points out the lack of a division between the sciences and the humanities in antiquity, turning to Eratosthenes’ epigram summarising his treatise on the problem of the duplication of a cube as a case in point. The chapter includes a figure demonstrating Eratosthenes’ method for calculating the earth's circumference and an image of a reconstruction of the enduringly fascinating Antikythera mechanism.

Chapter 5, ‘Encounters’, looks north, south, east and west, illustrating the geographical and cultural expanse of the Hellenistic world. T. discusses the complicated cultural climate of the Greek-Bactrian town of Aï Khanoum and what it means to be ‘Greek’ (east), the first Greeks to learn about the monsoon winds and sail to India via the Red Sea (south), the relationship between Scythians and Greeks at Olbia, as well as the cryptic mention of half-Greeks in an inscription (north), and the baroque opulence of the Hellenised Villa of the Papyri (west). This chapter is the book's most successful: concise, entertaining snapshots of complex social and cultural interactions leave the reader with a better picture of the diversity and heterogeneity of the ancient world – a world much bigger than just Greece and Rome.

The last chapter looks more closely at the small, well-preserved town of Priene. T. takes us through the city's lay-out, government and organisation of the citizenry, as well as its relationship with Hellenistic rulers. He also looks at two of the city's male benefactors, as well as mentioning one surprising woman – a benefactor and an office holder – to show the change in civic life over time. Priene may seem a rather underwhelming note to end on, but since the city moved to the current location of its ruins in 350 b.c. and its documentary record all but stops around 50 b.c., its lifespan is very nearly in parallel with the Hellenistic period itself, if not quite T.’s ‘true Pompeii of the Hellenistic world’ (p. 112).

There are two helpful maps, one of the Hellenistic Aegean and the other of the Hellenistic Near East. It is unfortunate that there is not a map that includes Italy, since part of Chapter 5 focuses on the Villa of the Papyri at Herculaneum. While most readers will know where Italy is, including it on a map would help illustrate the expanse of the Hellenistic world and influence, which is one of T.’s major themes. The volume ends with a timeline and suggestions for further reading.

The writing is very accessible and pointed towards a general audience, which is somewhat in conflict with the esoteric focus. A reader with no background in Hellenistic history may well be baffled by the lack of focus on Athens, Pergamum, Jerusalem, Ephesus, or even to a large extent Alexandria, as well as Egypt's most famous queen Cleopatra (whose limited appearance is noted above). Indeed, women are almost entirely absent from this volume. Although every topic cannot be covered in every book, especially not in a short history like this one, minimising women makes a difference in terms of audience. This book is better suited as a gift to please a history-buff uncle rather than to inspire a university-bound niece. Even so, I would recommend this book to academics who want to brush up on the political history of the Hellenistic age, as well as anyone who is interested in cross-cultural interaction in the ancient world.