Tom Holland

the first world empire and the battle for the West

Persian fire

Telling the story about the first and second Persion invasion of Greece from the view of both participants, the Persians (Achaemenid Empire) and the Greeks (several city states backstabbing each other, as it seemed to be a part time hobby of them)

Holland starts by telling the story several years before the first invasion, trying to reconstruct the driving forces which finally led to it. The very simplistic view of Greeks = defenders of freedom, against the Persians = evil invaders as it might have been portrait in popular media and movies, is lifted early on (...Helots of the Spartans...)

His writing style might not be for everyone. Not like a classical history book. The Persian side of view fell a bit short after half of the book, mainly telling the story from Athens and Spartas perspectives, but I assume this is due lack, which is a general problem, of limited surviving Persian literature of that time.

André 

Telling the story about the first and second Persion invasion of Greece from the view of both participants, the Persians (Achaemenid Empire) and the Greeks (several city states backstabbing each other, as it seemed to be a part time hobby of them)

Holland starts by telling the story several years before the first invasion, trying to reconstruct the driving forces which finally led to it. The very simplistic view of Greeks = defenders of freedom, against the Persians = evil invaders as it might have been portrait in popular media and movies, is lifted early on (...Helots of the Spartans...)

His writing style might not be for everyone. Not like a classical history book. The Persian side of view fell a bit short after half of the book, mainly telling the story from Athens and Spartas perspectives, but I assume this is due lack, which is a general problem, of limited surviving Persian literature of that time.

In 480 BC, Xerxes, the King of Persia, led an invasion of mainland Greece. Its success should have been a formality. For seventy years, victory - rapid, spectacular victory - had seemed the birthright of the Persian Empire. In the space of a single generation, they had swept across the Near East, shattering ancient kingdoms, storming famous cities, putting together an empire which stretched from India to the shores of the Aegean. As a result of those conquests, Xerxes ruled as the most powerful man on the planet. Yet somehow, astonishingly, against the largest expeditionary force ever assembled, the Greeks of the mainland managed to hold out. The Persians were turned back. Greece remained free. Had the Greeks been defeated at Salamis, not only would the West have lost its first struggle for independence and survival, but it is unlikely that there would ever have been such and entity as the West at all. Tom Holland's brilliant new book describes the very first 'clash of Empires' between East and West. Once again he has found extraordinary parallels between the ancient world and our own. There is no competing popular book describing these events.

The First World Empire and the Battle for the West

Persian Fire

Riley

This book would make more sense if the premise made clear the focus on the Greek perspective and its tone of retelling, rather than implying an analysis/argument of evidence or presenting uncommon information on the Persian side of things.
Well written, but as other reviews have mentioned in excellent detail, it strikes me (an ancient history student) as being misleading in its statements (which are speculation) and its relation to present conflict (which is not explored beyond a few comparisons of lineage in the beginning).

Alistair Shepherd

Jens Madsen

An account of the clash between two powerful civilizations describes the epic struggle between the Persians and the Greeks in 480 BC and assesses the implications of that war in terms of the history of the West in light of the Greek victory at Salamis.

Persian fire the first world empire and the battle for the West

Reviews