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From Publishers Weekly
This engaging and informative account of the 480 B. C. showdown between Greece and Persia relies on the conflict’s foremost ancient chronicler, Herodotus, whom Strauss deems an "excellent historian" and "mainly reliable." While gently correcting some of Herodotus’s claims, military historian Strauss (Athens After the Peloponnesian War) stays faithful to his trademark blend of sensationalism and skepticism. He regales readers with lurid Herodotian anecdotes about oracles and omens, vengeful eunuchs and labyrinthine double crosses among the fractious Greeks, and paints colorful portraits of the cruel and impious Xerxes, the admiral-queen Artemisia of Halicarnassus ("combines the cunning of Athena and the seductiveness of Aphrodite") and the Athenian leader Themistocles, whose blend of military genius, charisma and manipulativeness obliterated the line between statesmanship and treason. Also in keeping with the spirit of Greek sources, Strauss celebrates their victory as a triumph of democracy and nationalism over a polyglot despotism, of the common Greek rower over the Persian aristocrat. At the same time, Strauss draws on other contemporary accounts as well as on modern scholarship to detail the Persian campaign in Greece and flesh out a picture of society and warfare in the ancient world, illuminating such topics as Persian court protocol, the prayers of Corinthian temple prostitutes and the proper method of ramming an enemy trireme. His combination of erudite scholarship, well-paced storytelling and vivid color commentary make this an appealing popular history for the general reader.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
From School Library Journal
Adult/High School - This account of one of history's most famous battles has a fresh, invigorating tone. In 480 B.C., Xerxes, king of the Persian Empire, took a huge army and navy to invade Greece. Ten years earlier, his father's invasion to punish Greece for aiding Persia's rebelling subject states had failed. This time, Xerxes intended to get it right. Herodotus, Aeschylus, and Plutarch are the author's main sources, but he enriches the telling with details obtained from archaeological digs. Sights, sounds, and smells are evocatively described, whether Strauss is showing how the rowers powered their triremes or speculating about the dress of the participants at Xerxes's council. Although the improbable Greek victory is well known, the tension builds as Themistocles's traps are carefully sprung. Strauss is respectful toward his sources, but he corrects probable errors and exaggerations. Despite the huge number of known participants, he focuses on the most significant, so that readers aren't swamped by a recitation of names. When unfamiliar places are mentioned, he gives the modern names as well. In addition to being an engrossing story of an improbable battle, this book is an excellent, compact study of daily life in the fifth century. A timetable and photographs of Salamis and archaeological artifacts are included. - Kathy Tewell, Chantilly Regional Library, VA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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First Sentence
He was the last Athenian. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
He was the last Athenian. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Ancient History Comes Alive...,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Battle of Salamis: The Naval Encounter That Saved Greece -- and Western Civilization (Hardcover)
Barry Strauss' narrative of this complex ancient naval battle brings the story to life with rich details and a readable, popular narrative style. I found the book fascinating and learned a great deal about the Greeks and Persians -- not just the dry history one reads in text books, but a host of details from the revenge of a eunich to the wardrobe of the first female admiral ever. I highly recommend this book not only to history and war buffs but also to the general reader who likes adventure and lively prose
5.0 out of 5 stars
It Was Glorious,
By Maia Aron (Bethel, NY) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Battle of Salamis: The Naval Encounter That Saved Greece -- and Western Civilization (Hardcover)
The Battle of Salamis describes the fateful naval battle between Greece and the Persian Empire in the year 480 BC - a pivotal event that determined the trajectory of western democracy. Persia had numerical superiority; Greece had cunning. Persia was a master of land-based warfare; Greece waged naval guerilla warfare. Each side knew the future of the world was in the hands of the winner.Barry Strauss is a master storyteller who brings to life not only the events of the time and their antecedents, but also a host of memorable characters: the brilliant but unscrupulous Greek commander Themistocles; the infantry-centric Persian King Xerxes who failed to understand naval guerilla warfare; the cunning Artemisia, the first female admiral in history; the vengeful Persian eunuch Hermotimus; the Athenian playwright Aeschylus, who participated in the battle; the Spartan admiral Eurybiades, who had to maintain the fractured Greek coalition in the heat of battle... and many, many more. The battle of Salamis involved approximately 300,000 sailors, marines, soldiers, and refugees -- the equivalent of 20 million people in today's terms - from Europe, Asia and Africa. It included some of the cleverest tricks in the history of war, with many lessons for today's readers. The author does a masterful job of storytelling with a solid basis in research, including archaeology, meteorology, forensic anthropology and previously overlooked literary sources. He adds to this his own knowledge of rowing. The result is a meticulously researched page-turner - the author imparts the sights, sounds, and even smells of an ancient time, ancient cultures, and an ancient naval battle that imparts important lessons for today's turbulent world.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Popular and Scholarly at the Same Time,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Battle of Salamis: The Naval Encounter That Saved Greece -- and Western Civilization (Hardcover)
Strauss' analysis of the most critical (and one of the most strategically complex) ancient naval battles is a rare treat -- scholarly and well researched (there are more than 20 pages of notes and bibliography) AND entertaining at the same time. He writes beautifully, with a novelist's eye for detail backed up by a scholar's critical analysis. This book will keep you riveted from beginning to end.
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