
Gateway of the Gods by Anton Gill
Nebuchadnezzar: military genius, law-giver, architect of one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, and ruler of marvelous Babylon, city of 200,000 souls girded by 18 kilometres of walls so wide two four-horse chariots were said to be able to pass side-by-side; or 'destroyer of nations', the vilified despoiler of Judea ultimately driven mad by the Lord's vengeance? Two very different portraits exist for Babylon's greatest ruler. Wherein lies the truth? Nebuchadnezzar's reign (c630 A--- 562 BC) represents the last and perhaps greatest flowering of a culture that had endured for three millennia. His capital, Babylon, home of the famous Hanging Gardens, was a wonder of the ancient world in itself, but nothing remains today of the city except a scattering of dusty mounds, Nebuchadnezzar's deeds have been obscured by time, and popular history has failed to engage this most fascinating of rulers. Anton Gill's new book charts not only Nebuchadnezzar's rise to power, his hand in the downfall of the Assyrian Empire, his campaigns and his architectural transformation of Babylon, but also explores the deeper history of Fertile Crescent and explains why, for all its apparent majesty, Babylon was to fall to Cyrus the Persian only 13 years after Nebuchadnezzar's death.
Anton Gill worked for the English Stage Company, the Arts Council of Great Britain, and the BBC before becoming a full-time writer in 1984. He is the author of The Journey Back from Hell: Conversations with Concentration Camp Survivors (winner of the H. H. Wingate Award), A Dance Between Flames: Berlin Between the Wars, and An Honourable Defeat: A History of the German Resistance to Hitler.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781847246691 |
| ISBN 10 | 1847246699 |
| Title | Gateway of the Gods |
| Author | Anton Gill |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Hardback |
| Publisher | Quercus Publishing |
| Year published | 2008-10-02 |
| Number of pages | 256 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |