Assyria stands out in history as the fountainhead of empire. It was perhaps the first state to subdue the bulk of its world, extending in every direction until its frontiers consisted almost entirely of sand, sea, and inaccessible mountains. Assyria brooked no rivals: for more than a century, there was none who could withstand its might. Assyrian kings developed vast new urban spaces, erected grand, monumental structures, oversaw the construction of remarkable infrastructural projects, moved hundreds of thousands of people from one end of their empire to the other, and recorded their deeds in bombastic and evocative royal inscriptions accompanied by incredibly rich and often explicitly gruesome reliefs. Assyria also stands out for the abundance of sources available to tell its story: alongside the famous royal inscriptions are tens of thousands of texts written in cuneiform on clay tablets and other media. It is therefore astonishing that we have had to wait so long for an accessible narrative of the rise and fall of the Assyrian empire that builds on the best of academic research but can be enjoyed by layman and expert alike.

There is no one better to fill this gap than Eckart Frahm, a scholar whose work has for decades represented the cutting edge in research on Assyria. Assyria: the rise and fall of the world's first empire finally delivers what we have lacked. Frahm offers a retelling of the dazzling story of Assyria's rise from a self-contained merchant entrepôt in northern Iraq to world empire, and then of its precipitous fall in a series of dramatic and bloody wars that left an indelible imprint on world history.

Frahm's book is divided into three sections. The first covers Assyria's gradual emergence from the fringes of the Mesopotamian world to its reinvention as an important kingdom on the international stage. The second section is the heart of the book, walking readers through Assyria's turbulent and tentative invention of empire up to its dramatic crystallisation as universal sovereign, and its sudden implosion. The third and final section concerns Assyria's legacy. Frahm reflects on ancient Assyria's afterlives in the modern world, including the recent campaign of destruction waged against its archaeological remains by Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq.

Frahm's prose is crisp and engaging. He guides readers through a millennium and a half of history without ever getting bogged down in detail or passing over important information in a hurry. Frahm is judicious and even-handed in his exposition, cleaving closely to the historical evidence and avoiding anachronistic readings. For those without a background in the history of the ancient Middle East, Frahm provides more than enough context against which to understand Assyrian history. The book also comes with a handy list of dates and rulers, useful maps, and well-chosen illustrations. Assyria's story is spectacular. It has suffered from the absence of a historian able to bring it to the general public. Thanks to Frahm's masterful effort, there is reason to believe Assyria's story will start to get the hearing it deserves.

Assyria: The Rise and Fall of the World's First Empire
Eckart Frahm
Bloomsbury Publishing, £14.99
ISBN 978-1526623836