One of my favorite non-fiction titles of this past year. In this remarkable and insightful book Alexander dons her scholarly detective cap to dig beneath all the layers of myth built up over the centuries on top of Homer's epic poem. What she reveals is nothing less than Homer's breathtaking struggle to find a meaning within the meaninglessness of war, whether that war is his Trojan War, or the wars that have plagued our species from before the dawn of history right down to our struggle in Afghanistan today.

In the course of this book's 225 pages, Alexander breathes new life into Homer's Iliad for the contemporary reader. I heartily recommend this book for your summer reading list.