Holland gives us plenty of background, beginning with the Assyrian empire to the rise of Persia, and why Persia viewed Sparta and Athens as such dangerous threats.The title of this book would lead a reader (this reader, anyway) to believe the focus to be the The title of this book would lead a reader (this reader, anyway) to believe the focus to be the Thoroughly disappointing. This was one of the most rivetting reads I have encountered in the field of popular history.
The Achemenids are only the latest in a series of giants that stretch all the way back to and even into prehistory. The title was, however, misleading, to say the least.I must say that this book was really disappointing for me as I was, judging from the title, excitedly expecting a historical narrative of the first Persian Empire. The ancient Greeks were a tribal people, with severe wealth and power inequality. It was far more natural for them to fight over which rich family would rule than to ask whether any of them should do so at all. The Athenians were led by Themistocles and the Spartans by Leonidas. He ruled the Middle East, Central Asia, Africa and well beyond the Danube River in Europe.
While I obviously wasn't able to pick out if he was making any assumptions or false assertions with regards to Persian history, there were moments where Holland stated a theory as unquestioned fact—the Doric invasion of Greece, for example—and that made me raise an eyebrow and regard this narrative as much more untrustworthy than I would otherwise have done. On one hand, it is genuine, unadulterated history... no fiction about it. Tom Holland. What an excellent historian! It was only then that we discovered that our flight had changed gates and we literally dashed for 45 minutes until we arrived for our flight, dripping with exertion. Dorothy K Morris, Author of the Mockingbird Hill SeriesDisappointing. One of the best books I’ve read about ancient Persia and Greece. Tom Holland's Persian Fire is a very readable overview of the rise of the Persian empire as well as the rise of both Sparta and Athens. I waded through 161 pages of a hodge-podge of fact, supposition, myth, names, places, history, run-on sentences, incomplete sentences, until I simply gave up. Tom Holland's Persian Fire tries, and largely succeeds in expanding the Persian point of view. by DoubleDay I'm not sure that this did an awful lot to correct that—while the early part of the book does discus the Persian Empire, Holland focuses much more on Greece and a recounting of the battles than he does on Persia. Just a moment while we sign you in to your Goodreads account. The book ends with the final Persian defeat and a brief survey of the (short lived) peace, prosperity and cultural efflorescence that ensued.The book is an excellent account of the Greco-Roman wars and their background and ends on a high note.
Your recently viewed items and featured recommendations See also: Persian Based on the title and cover, I hoped that the author would give the Persians a fair shake, and it started well. Vivid details, in-depth character portraits, a I-can't-put-it-down read! Greece remained free. Ten years later the Persians again launched an invasion this time by both land and sea. A few centuries ago this nation was the crown jewel of classical civilization and a few months ago it was struggling to stay afloat. Please try again later. I love ancient history and have read many, many works from the earliest days by different writers.
But that is a question for another day. But still, he has done his research and is fun to read, with quotes and anecdotes that enliven this history and bring it to life.He describes the rise of the Persians and the creation of the first great world empire by Cyrus. We had spent the night before with my wife's brother in Reading. Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read. In the same manner, this book's title is "Persian Fire" but, after an initial account of the raise … I vowed never to become interested in ancient history, particularly Ancient Greece, because the people who usually hang out in that corner are either unbearably pretentious or infuriatingly condescending, often a delightful combination of the two.
Persian Fire: The First World Empire and the Battle for the West is a historical study of the Persian Empire by popular historian Tom Holland Addeddate 2013-07-19 03:35:39 Identifier PersianFireTomHolland Identifier-ark ark:/13960/t6nz9vk9q Ocr ABBYY FineReader 8.0 Ppi 300 Scanner There can be no doubt about the unique symbolic significance of Thermopylae, which might have been made for cinema, but once one looks past the pro-Greek propaganda to try and see how the suicidal stand fits into the broader flow of the history of the time there is much to ponder.Tom Holland's history of the Persian Wars is thorough, enlightening and eminently readable, striking just the right balance between big-picture analysis and enthralling personal anecdotes. He undertakes a difficult task of relating the conflict from the Persian perspective. I would have loved a deeper cultural analysis of what happeI picked this up because although three years of a degree in Ancient History mean that I know the history of this conflict quite thoroughly from the Greek side, I think I'm less informed about it from the Persian point of view. The striking thing about this one is that the Persians are given equal time and a fair treatment.
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