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

Hollands book is a great work of history told with style and insight. He takes his time in establishing the main players, Persia, Athena & Sparta. Particularly of note is the role of the Persian religion of 'Ahura Mazda'. Based on truth vs lies it enabled the Great King of Kings to attack and conquer cities with the excuse of bringing them 'the truth' and destroying the statues etc of their old 'false' Gods. To a cynic, just a excuse for conquest and land grabbing.Both Athens and Sparta receive ample attention, Holland explaining the Athenian budding of democracy and the extremely unforgiving and strict warrior code of Sparta. The work also seems to debunk some myths. For example , that it was the messenger who ran from Marathon to bring news of victory and then dropped down dead. Holland tells us that the running was actually done by the Athenians themselves after they realised the Persian fleet was heading to Athens and they'd left their city sparsely defended.Ultimately this is a book about the desire for power and conquest. But, its also a very human telling. We read how different characters of history interacted with each other, how their rivalry and hatreds (the Greeks) made them easier targets. Division, it seems, really does breed weakness. When you read of all the back-stabbing, plotting and power struggles it is quite amazing that the Greeks managed to work together well enough to fend off the threat from the east.

Tom Holland's books are so easy to read! I am on my third now and his knowledge shines through in all of them, his understanding of the times he writes about, his obvious fascination with the Greeks and Romans between say 550BC and the first century AD. I now know what the Battle of Marathon was (and hence why marathons) and understand a little more about how the Greeks stopped Xerxes and the 'Persian' army (it did of course comprise of men from all areas around the Near East across towards India) in their tracks and protected Greek culture for posterity. He certainly goes into adequate detail (for an interested observer) about the negotiations between the Greek cities then and how the battles panned out from both sides' point of view. Tom Holland does seem to dwell too much for me on the utterly horrific and gruesome ways in which human beings (well, some men anyway) treated their enemies in his writings but also he gives us a good feeling for the filth, mud, the basic way in which normal life carried on then. I enjoyed it (not so much the gruesome bits).

Great book. Informative and very readable, from an author who must rank amongst the best in the historical non-fiction genre.Although it covers Marathon and its aftermath, it also gives a detailed account, with occasional wry humour, of the origins of Persia, Athens, Sparta etc. The book also introduces you to a host of other peoples you half know, including those of Assyria,, Babylon, the Phoenicians and suchlike. In short, there is a pretty high percentage here of all the stuff you need to know about the ancient world (excluding Rome and Egypt), contained in less than 400 pages of well-written and engaging narrative.Very highly recommended.

Writer's intentions are fascinating, he wants to present Persians, Greeks and the conflict between the two. Unfortunately the outcome is mediocre.There are hundreds of stories, sayings and anecdotes related to the protagonists of that period. Instead, the writer spends pages and pages with vague descriptions and boring overeviews of the events. There are so many stories about Cyrus, from Herodotus and Cyropedia, but writer just cites the basic events.Another huge problem is the lack of structure. When I was starting a chapter I could not figure out what was the purpose of it. Writer starts from Cyrus, then goes to Darious, then he moves back to the past to describe Babylon and Sargon who lived in 2200 BC. There is no beginning, middle and end in his story telling.His writing is vivid, but not enough to keep my interest. Fortunately I bought it second hand and didn't waste much money.

Great read!This does not cover all of ancient Greece but it does cover the parts - era and certain Greek states - that I personally find the most interesting so 5 stars from me.Heavy focus on the Spartan origins and their warrior code, Athenenian origins and their democracy, battles of Marathon, Thermopylae, Sardis, and more with occasional mentions of that played their part like the Corinthians, Phoenicians, etc.What made it a bit different was the focus also on the Persians, their origins, rise of Darius and empire, succession of Xerxes, and how they viewed themselves in the grand scheme which sets the scene all the more.One sobering impression it left was how such small decisions determined the overall outcome (the Greeks came through by the skin of their teeth at times) and thus all of western history that came after it as there likely would not have been a 'western world' to speak of if they had failed in this clash of civilisations.Chaire!