Helen of Troy

“Dazzling. . . A look at the love match between beauty and power, displaying the archetypal ‘trophy mistress” to the modern world.” –O, The Oprah Magazine

“A divine biography. . . . Sizzling. . . . [Hughes] , a young British historian, explores not only the Bronze Age babe but also what she has meant throughout history and the cultural significance of being both desired and despised.” –USA Today

“[Hughes’] multi-faceted, multi-hued, and multi-period portrait of la Belle Helene will capture the imagination of professional scholars and general readers alike. I cannot recommend it too strongly.” –Professor Paul Cartledge, Cambridge University

“Hughes brings a passion for ancient history and archaeology crossed with a strain of feminism to the figure of Helen.” –The Washington Post Book World

“The book triumphantly reclaims Helen from some of her traducers. Hughes’s portrait is as close to a real, living Helen as we are likely to get.”
–Financial Times

“When Helen launched her “thousand ships,” was she a “shameless hussy?” Or, like her mother, was she a rape victim? . . . The answers have always depended on who you speak to and when. Hughes has them all.”
–The Times

“Hughes skillfully brings this period back to life. A fascinating window onto the power politics of an age . . . a genuinely exciting historical narrative.”
–Sunday Telegraph.