Skip to main content

Book Review: Persian Fire, the First World Empire and the Battle for the West

Persian Fire: The First World Empire and the Battle for the West is a work of narrative history by the famous historian and novelist Tom Holland.  Persian Fire chronicles the rise of the Persian Empire and its first great kings - Cyrus, Darius, and Xerxes, as well as the struggle of Darius and Xerxes to pacify the quarrelsome city states of what would become Greece.   This was a project that ended badly for the Persians.


The narrative really beings with the roots of the Persian people itself. The Persians were the ancestors of Aryan horse people who inhabited the mountains east of the early empire builders of Babylon and Assyria.  Eventually, the empire of Medes would arise and conquer much of the fertile crescent. 

The power of Media eventually brought it into conflict with the people who became known as the Persians. It was this conflict with Media that kick started the power of Persian and their rise of the empire that conquered people from India to Egypt.  

We learn about their culture, their religion, the vast centralized power of the King of Kings that ruled through satraps that were closely connected to the King through extremely effective and bureaucratized communications.

Holland then takes us to Sparta on the Peloponnese. This is a story more westerners know. The history of the rise of Sparta is a history of a city states rise to power through absolute self-mastery and military might. The phalanxes of Sparta were feared in Greece, but the other Greek city states were no pushovers.  As with Persia, we learn about Sparta’s culture, religion and political system.  Sparta was a very different place.

The third section of Persian Fire is about the rise of Athens and its democratic system. Located around its acropolis in Attica, Athens grew into one of the most sophisticated city states in the ancient world. Like the Spartans its army was initially based on citizens that fought as hoplites. Ultimately, Athens would famously build a fleet that stood against the great armada of the Persian Empire. 

After establishing the history of the major combatants, Holland then takes us on a thrilling journey as the Greeks led by Sparta and Athens Clash and defeat first Darius and then  a massive force led by Xerxes himself.  The famous battles of Marathon, Thermopylae and Salamis are all brilliantly described.

My favourite part was the description of the battle of Marathon. As the Persian army separated its force by moving its Cavalry onto ships in order take Athens while the Athenians were in the field, the Athenian army smashed into the Persian infantry and destroyed it. Marathon was one of the great battles of history and Holland did it full justice.  

As far as themes go, Holland really digs and frames the conflict as a clash between cultures, the Persians as an autocratic and totalizing Asian power in conflict with the free and democratic cultures of the west. Whether this is accurate framing or not, I will leave you to judge.   


About the author:

Thomas Holland is an English historian, novelist and podcaster. He has written many books, including works of classical history, medieval history. Rome, Greece, Persia, its all there. 

 

Publication date: 2006    Publisher: Abacus  Page Count: 551 


Great Source for Buying Books:

I often buy new books at a very good price from Book Outlet. As I understand it, Book Outlet sells overstock books received directly from new bookstores.  You can find a broad range of genres, publication dates as well as soft covers and hardcover. 

If you are interested in checking out Book Outlet, please follow my link. I don't get paid for referrals, but I can earn credits that are applicable to my own book orders. Help me read and review books so that you can avoid things or find things that are up your alley! 

Check out my review of Millenium by Tom Holland here! 


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Book Review: Empire of the Summer Moon

I recently completed Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History by S.C. Gwynne.   This isn't a new work, originally published back in 2011 by Scribner, but it was a new to me book. One of the great things about history is that if well done, they generally have a pretty good shelf life.      And this one is well done. Gwynne is known to be one of the best popular or narrative history writers, and I enjoyed his treatment of the Commanche's and their conflicts with the European powers and the encroaching settlers immensely.   This is a compelling read that is fast moving, and sucks you in as well as any novel.      The work covers the historic rise of the Comanche's, their origins, their move into buffalo country and adoption of a militaristic horse culture, as well as their conflicts with the Spanish and French.       The history of the ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Book Review: Endurance, Shackleton's Incredible Voyage

I recently read Endurance by Alfred Lansing. And to be honest, I was under the impression that I was the only one not to have read this famous account of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s 1914–1917 (disastrous) Imperial Trans‑Antarctic Expedition. But I have since learned there are many people who haven't picked this one up, and if you are one of those people who have not read Endurance then you definitely should.        A couple of things I would mention before getting into this review.  First, the book was originally published in 1959. And if you are worried that the language might be old timey or stuffy or whatever, don't be too concerned. This one is extremely well written and reads like it could be written this year. So definitely not old timey.       Second, Lansing was close enough to events to have had the chance to talk and discuss the events with at least some of the crew. I can't remember now if he talked to all of them or not. An...
Post a Comment
Read more

My Thoughts on The Road by Cormac McCarthy (Spoiler Free)

I finally read a Cormac McCarthy novel. I was at the library looking for books with my 14 year old daughter, primarily books for her.  The library is one of the main theatres of battle in my ongoing military campaign to keep her from spending all of her time on screens.  Alexander the Great, Napoleon, Patton?  They have no idea.  Anyway, I have always seen book readers discuss and recommend Cormac McCarthy novels and The Road was on the shelf, which surprised me somewhat. Our small branch library usually has few good books, since most people generally rely on holds to get what they want. So, I grabbed the copy for myself.  Since this was my first (and so far only) McCarthy read, I was surprised how short the book was and how sparse was the writing style. I really had no expectations going into this, and I generally start with the assumption that I am getting into the next War and Peace.  But The Road is nothing like that at all. I struggled with the minimal...
Post a Comment
Read more