Customer Reviews

The Greek and Persian Wars 499-386 BC

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Number 36 in the Osprey "Essential Histories" series, this account of about a hundred years of classical-era warfare is fascinating. I couldn't put the book down till I finished it. The (mostly color) illustrations, including several helpful maps, provide depth and context for the historical account. Some of the war scenes are so vivid, in fact, I felt I was watching them as they happened. The central chapter is "Xerxes' invasion of Greece," which covers the pivotal battle at Thermopylai, the fall of Athens, the sea battle at Salamis, and the decisive defeats of the Persians at Plataia and Mykale (I use the book's spellings). What struck me the most was the arbitrariness of who sided with who in the course of the hundred years recounted. At times Sparta sided with Athens, at times with Persia. De Souza makes clear the unreliability of some of Herodotus's account of these battles. This concise read comes in at less than 100 pages, and is suitable for getting up to speed on this material.

Overall, this book provides an excellent overview of the Greek and Persian wars. It is easy to follow and organized in a clear chronological order. The author, Philip de Souza, covers the main battles in just the right amount of detail. Specifically, he covers the battles of Marathon, Thermopylae, Salamis, and Plataia. Each of these battles is supported by a concise map that shows just the applicable information. This is notable as it is not always the case.

As with all Osprey books, this one comes with assorted photos of statues, weapons, coins, and other relics. These photos are relevant to the text and add to the reader's overall understanding of events. One interesting color photo is that of the reconstructed Trireme "Olympias" which is part of the Hellenic navy.

The beginning chapters put these wars into historical context. The author does a good job of explaining the Ionian revolt and subsequent reasons for the Persian invasion. At the end, he discusses how this war laid the seeds for the Peloponnesian War. The Portrait chapters of a civilian and soldier also add some interesting information. Contrary to popular belief, not all the Spartans died at Thermopylae. A warrior named Aristodemos apparently survived, although he was later killed at Plataia.

Bottom line: this book is enjoyable, well written, and easy to follow. The battle maps and photos are very good and definitely support the narrative. Overall, this is an excellent book.

This is the first book I've read on the Persian Wars, and while the book does give a relatively continuous narrative of the conflict, it seems to be pretty much a bare bones retelling of Herodotus's history. The additional analysis seems weak, and is often little more than restatements of obvious points. Some of the history is glossed over, while some random and extraneous facts are given, without much reason that I could find. Maps are helpful but often don't have all the geographic landmarks that are mentioned in the text, which limits their usefulness. Numerous grammatical mistakes further eroded my confidence in the rigor of the book. There's got to be much better stuff out there than this.

A very nice overview. Not a great scholarly work, but a very useful starting point. I like the Essential Histories series very much. They let me take an area that I am not familiar with and give me a very good introduction.

This book provides a good succinct overview of the Greco-Persian wars. It starts off, as most of Osprey series of books do, with a brief historical overview providing perspective into the context of the war. This it does by providing a short history of Persian military activity in the Aegian and Asia Minor immediately before the war and the relations between the various Greek city states and these city states and Persia. A discussion is also provided regarding the power and armies of the major powers involved (i.e., Sparta, Athens, Persia). Following this a very brief analysis is provided regarding the military tactics and leaders of the main powers. Then follows a discussion of the major battles fought, the conclusion and the consequences. Adequate maps are provided showing the strategic locations of these battles along with tactical maps showing how the battles transpired.

Some reviewers have also complained that Herodotus is the main source of this text's history. This is true but Herodotus is also the main source of nearly all our knowledge of these wars. Some of the reviewers also complain that the book is too short. Considering the fact that it is only about 90 pages in length (about half of which are illustration) this is not a very fair critique. This book is intended to only provide a very succinct introduction to the topic, as are all the Oprey "Essential History" series of books. If the reader desires to get up to speed on the topic (albeit in only a very rudimentary manner) in only an hour or two this book does the job. If a reader is looking for a more in-depth history, a much larger book such as Professor Peter Green "The Greco-Persian Wars" should be read. This provides a much more thorough history. It also requires more than an hour or two to read.

This book sought to refelct light on Alexandra motivation to invade Persia. This is a good book to read, and as reading this book to listen to a Iranian classical music.