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Customer Review
- Reviewed in the United States on February 3, 2009Once again, Holland produces another exciting and readable history of the ancient world. This book covers the period of the early 400s BC, although it provides useful background on the Persian empire, Sparta, and Athens. While Holland rightly claims the battle was crucial in preserving Western civilization, he does try to allow the reader into the Persian mind. His introduction highlights the Persian empire's multi-ethnic nature and superpower status, making it somewhat analogous to America (as opposed to the chauvinistic, petty Greeks).
One of the things Holland does well is use modern terms to describe ancient politics, making them more accessible to the modern reader. For example, in the introduction he describes the Greeks, from the Persian point of view, as terrorist states. He also accepts that the protagonists on both sides held certain religious/philosophical beliefs that cannot be left out of the narrative. For example, he incorporates the Gods into his story when it is clear Greek soldiers viewed the Gods as a source of woe or fortune.
A cautionary note: if you tend to be bored by history, this book is not for you. Some of the other reviewers complained about the abundance of names and dates. However, this is necessary as Holland has a complicated story to tell spanning decades. On the other hand, if you are curious about history but bored by standard history textbooks or more academic pieces, this is a good, readable synthesis of the history.
I should also caution that I am only a casual student of history, so I cannot verify that all of the facts in the book are true. Holland probably could not either since records of history during this time are so sketchy anyway. There is legitimate debate over other historical facts. Even if one or two tiny details are historically debatable (and so far as I can tell they are not), this book will hopefully educate more readers about the ancient world and an important war that shaped Western civilization.
