Fairy tales for grown-ups

Everybody loves a good fairy tale, but as you get older you may feel silly reading "Cinderella" or "Hansel and Gretel". Thank goodness for the Ancient Greeks; their mythology stories are the perfect fairy tales for adults. There's plenty of double-crossing, emotional outbursts, sex, violence and jealousy, and you get the added benefit of learning about classical civilization while you read these soap-opera stories. In our new book Zeus: a journey through Greece in the footsteps of a god, author Tom Stone manages to blend these wonderful mythological tales with a travelogue of Greece. Since the stories that comprise Greek mythology are so numerous, with so many characters, Stone focuses his book on the tales involving Zeus, the most powerful of the gods. He also does a wonderful job of presenting the stories in a somewhat chronological order (time being a fuzzy thing when talking about mythological events), beginning with Zeus's early years and his struggles against his own father Kronos. Stone also weaves in the various ups and downs of Greece, conflicts with her Aegean neighbors, changes in Grecian society and the growing influence of monotheistic religions. A timeline, a map and a ton of endnotes helps round out this really engaging look at Ancient Greece. It's a wonderful read for anyone who likes Edith Hamilton (mythology), Simon Schama (history) or Peter Mayle (amusing anecdotes of interactions with colorful locals).