Rosemary Sutcliff has chosen one of the most enigmatic figures in Greek history- Alcibiades, portraying him in different lights through the shifting focus of those around him. Alcibiades' relationship with Athens is seen very much as a love affair, but a stormy one. There are grimmer overtones too, as a whole generation of young men who were the flower of Greece go to their death at Syracuse and Goat's creek. Miss Sutcliff writes;"I have followed the historical accounts as closely as in me lies... But being a historical novelist rather than a historian I have felt free to 'fill in the gaps' and tidy up a little here and there".