I received this book to review at no cost, from the publisher Hachette. It’s out now (trade paperback, $34.99).

As someone who has been keen on ancient history since forever, of course I was intrigued by a new book on the seven ancient wonders. And I’ve also read other work by Hughes, and enjoyed it, so that made me doubly intrigued.

Before I get into the book: of course there is controversy over this list. Hughes acknowledges that, and goes into quite a lot of detail about how the ‘canonical’ list came about – the first surviving mention of such a list, why lists were made, what other ‘wonders’ appeared on such lists in the ancient world of Greece and Rome, as well as what other monuments could be put on such a list were it made today. I appreciated this aspect a lot: it would have been easy to simply run with “the list everyone knows” (where ‘everyone’ is… you know), but she doesn’t. She puts it in context, and that’s an excellent thing.

In fact, context is the aspect of this book that I enjoyed the most. For each of the Wonders, Hughes discusses the geographical context – then and now; and the political, social, and religious contexts that enabled them to be made. This is pretty much what I was hoping for without realising it. And then she also talks about how people have reacted to, and riffed on, each of the Wonders since their construction, which is also a hugely important aspect of their continuing existence on the list.

• The Pyramids: the discussion of the exploration inside, by modern archaeologists, was particularly fascinating.
• The Hanging Gardens of Babylon: the discussion of whether they even existed, and if so where, and what ‘hanging’ actually meant, was intriguing.
• Temple of Artemis: I had no idea how big the structure was.
• Statue of Olympia: I had NO idea how big this allegedly was.
• Mausoleum of Halikarnassos: NOT HELLENIC! Did not know that.
• Colossus of Rhodes: also had no idea how big it allegedly was, nor the discussion around its placement.

There are, though, two aspects that frustrated me. One is her language. Sometimes, her desire for alliteration completely gets away from her, and it ends up feeling… gimmicky. And a bit juvenile, to be honest: “The Wonders are the last great works to popular not primarily the page, but our imagination” is just one instance. And then there’s her hyperbole. In the chapter on the Colossus of Rhodes, she describes the statue as “celebrating one of the greatest stars in the cosmos.” Now, if she means that’s how the sun was seen by contemporaries – I don’t think they saw the sun as a star. And if she means it as a scientific fact, then – no. Our sun is very, very boring. In discussing the supposed final home of the Virgin Mary, she says that “the faithful from all three Abrahamic faiths” visit the area, which… I wouldn’t have thought so? Why would Jewish folks want to venerate Mary?? Artemisia I is “one of the very few XX-chromosome naval captains attested to ever in history,” which makes me ask when she thinks “history” ended (and also speaks to her language choices). Most egregiously, I think, she describes Alexander the Great (or Alexander of Macedon, as my ancient history prof insisted) as “the most famous man in the world – ancient and modern”. I just. I can’t. Can I suggest, perhaps, Jesus? Mohammed? The Buddha?

Which leads me to the second aspect that frustrated me: Alexander. He’s everywhere in this book. And yes, he popped up at several of the Wonders, as did his successor-dynasties. But Hughes takes it to sometimes ridiculous lengths – to the point where I wondered if she actually wanted to be writing a book about Alexander. Her focus on Alexander almost overshadowed the Wonder being examined, at times.

Is this well-researched? Absolutely. Is it well-written? For the most part, definitely (and my grump about the alliteration may just be a me-thing). Is it accessible? I think so, but I’m also the wrong person to assess that, because I have a rough understanding of most of the periods discussed. Would I recommend this to someone generally interested in history? For sure.