Vous voulez voir cette page en fran�ais ? Cliquez ici.

2 used & new from CDN$ 40.61

See All Buying Options

Have one to sell? Sell yours here

See larger image

Share your own customer images

Publisher: learn how customers can search inside this book.

Persian Fire Library Edition (Paperback)

by Tom Holland (Author)

5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)

Available from these sellers.

1 new from CDN$ 61.84 1 used from CDN$ 40.61

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Rubicon: The Last Years of the Roman Republic

by Tom Holland

4.4 out of 5 stars (22) CDN$ 14.56

Millennium

by Tom Holland

5.0 out of 5 stars (1) CDN$ 16.38

Augustus: The Life of Rome's First Emperor

by Anthony Everitt

3.5 out of 5 stars (2) CDN$ 16.02

I, Claudius

by Robert Graves

4.7 out of 5 stars (121) CDN$ 13.10

Claudius the God: And His Wife Messalina

by Robert Graves

4.4 out of 5 stars (30) CDN$ 15.33

› Explore similar items

Product Details

Paperback: 448 pages
Publisher: Little Brown; New edition edition (Sep 27 2005)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0316731021
ISBN-13: 978-0316731027
Product Dimensions: 23.2 x 15.2 x 3.8 cm
Shipping Weight: 622 g

Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)

Amazon.ca Sales Rank: #525,494 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

Product Description

Review

'Gripping and authoritative ... An awe-inspiring story of the struggle for freedom' Express 'Confident, fluent and accessible, and with salutary lessons for our own times, this is history at its best' The Times

Product Description

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.

See all Product Description

Suggested Tags from Similar Products

(What's this?)

Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)

gripping international political thrille...(1)

edward said(1)

ibn warraq(1)

middle east(1)

middle eastern studies(1)

noam chomsky(1)

orientalism(1)

What do customers ultimately buy after viewing this item?

	74% buy the item featured on this page: Persian Fire Library Edition 5.0 out of 5 stars (2)
	11% buy Rubicon: The Last Years of the Roman Republic 4.4 out of 5 stars (22) CDN$ 14.56
	10% buy The Fall of the Roman Empire: A New History of Rome and the Barbarians 5.0 out of 5 stars (2) CDN$ 16.02
	4% buy Millennium 5.0 out of 5 stars (1) CDN$ 16.38

Explore similar items

Customer Reviews

2 Reviews

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

Average Customer Review

5.0 out of 5 stars (2 customer reviews)

Share your thoughts with other customers:

Create your own review

Most helpful customer reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent book, Mar 2 2008

By	K. Kehler (B.C., Canada) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Persian Fire (Paperback)

I read Holland's first book -- Rubicon -- and enjoyed it, so I was pleased to see him tackle another important moment in classical history, this time the repulsing by the (barely united) Greeks of the massive Persian invading army. As mentioned, Holland's first book was a revelation to me (and many others) as a work of popular history, but if anything Holland has improved his writing. The book is superbly written, full of clear prose, vivid images, and well marshaled information. He gives fascinating historical overviews of the competing principals. Most of us know a fair bit about the history of Athens and Sparta -- though Holland's chapter on Sparta taught me a lot -- but we (in the West) probably don't know nearly as much about the internecine battling and aristocratic maneuvering that led to the rise -- and imperialistic bent -- of the Persian empire. So, there's plenty of political history, cultural information, discussions of religion and cultural practices, and some terrific military history in this fine book, which, I hardly need to add, ends well: with the liberty-espousing, city-state dwelling Greeks (though by no means enamoured of equality) besting their terrifying foes. If you liked Rubicon, or just like a very well written work of history, you are in for a treat.

Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)

5.0 out of 5 stars Holland's best, Oct 30 2009

By	Ryan B. Ward (London, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Persian Fire (Paperback)

I'm a fan of Tom Holland in general, having also read and enjoyed Millenium and Rubicon. In my opinion, though, Persian Fire is his best work. The writing style is extremely engaging, and the discussion of the earlier histories of Persia, Sparta and Athens are both fascinating and helpful in understanding the main body of the text. The discussion of Persian history is especially useful, given that relatively little has been written about the history of that empire from its own perspective. The length of the work seems to me to be appropriate, enough to include sufficient detail without slowing the narrative. The one criticism I have of this work is that it includes a very short discussion of early Greek philosophy which is misleading. It contrasts the ethical dualism of Persian royal ideology with the materialistic and proto-scientific speculation of the Ionian Greeks. While there is some merit in this contrast, Holland pushes it much to far, suggesting that ancient Greek materialism and modern materialism were fundamentally the same. However, the Ionians didn't make as much of a distinction between spirit and matter as more modern writers often do. For example, Thales, who argued that everything was composed of water, also stated that "all things are full of souls". The idea that justice was an effective force in the events of the world was also common among the Ionians, suggesting that perhaps Greek philosophy and Persian royal ideology weren't after all so far apart.
However, with this one minor proviso, I entirely recommend this book, which is both an informative account of Persian and Greek history, and an extremely entertaining read.

Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review

› See all 2 customer reviews...