Ahmose I, founder of the New Kingdom, came to a broken Egypt and expanded it to the largest size it would ever reach. Readers will learn about how the familial bonds of the women who eagerly and expertly guided the rulers of Thebes sustained him, as a lineage of war-making young men came of age on the throne. They will make connections between how modernizing and adjusting to a specific enemy enabled the Thebans to take on the previously dominant Hyksos, while thought-provoking sidebars describe topics like why naming is important, and what differentiates the factions that sought power.