Persian Fire: The First World Empire and the Battle for the West

Description

Tom Holland creates an extremely engaging and quick paced narrative through a genuinely fascinating period of early history. I was inspired to read the book by the Frank Miller film "300". Whilst the book is a far more studious portrayal of the remarkable events of the Battle of Thermopylae, the bare facts themselves create much of the same tension and energy.

Holland's book takes us from the start of the great Persian empire (a story quite as improbable and remarkable in itself) from the conquests of Cyrus the great, and through the equally astonishing reign of Darius, to the time of Xerxes, and thence to the Greco-Persian wars. Holland also fills in the back story on the Greeks, but almost assumes that his readers are likely to either know a bit about the Greeks, or be more interested in the compelling story of the Persian empire's rise. But both back stories lead inexorably to the Greco-Persian wars themselves, and the clash of these two remarkable early civilisations.

Whilst probably too superficial for serious historians, an extremely entertaining read for the rest of us.