Customer Rating: 
Summary: Tough going, better as a supplement
Comment: I'm glad I read this along with the class that assigned it as a textbook. It is enormously informative, comprehensive, and concise.Unfortunately, it is almost unreadable. Walbank assumes the reader has a familiarity with a lot of ancient persons (many with the same names) and customs (cult of Arsinoe, anyone?). If you want to know about Alexander the Great, I suggest you go straight to the horse's mouth and read Penguin's edition of Arrian's _Life of Alexander_.
Likewise, grab a book on the Ptolemies, one on the Macedonians, the Selefkids and the early Romans. Then maybe this book will make some sense.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Ok, but not the best source
Comment: Walbank's small book on the Hellenistic period is certainly well priced -- your students won't complain about that. However they might complain that the book hardly reads or is laid out like an introductory textbook, which it clearly is meant to be. Thus why it is interesting reading for the higher level historian, it is not the best for undergraduates or laypeople.
