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Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 938.03
EAN num: 9780520203136
ISBN number: 0520203135
Label: University of California Press
Manufacturer: University of California Press
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 356
Printing Date: October 15, 1998
Publishing house: University of California Press
Sale Popularity Level: 98724
Studio: University of California Press
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Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
This is a reissue, with a new introduction and an update to the bibliography, of the original edition, published in 1970 as The Year of Salamis in England and as Xerxes at Salamis in the U.S.
The long and bitter struggle between the great Persian Empire and the fledgling Greek states reached its high point with the extraordinary Greek victory at Salamis in 480 B.C. The astonishing sea battle banished forever the specter of Persian invasion and occupation. Peter Green brilliantly retells this historic moment, evoking the whole dramatic sweep of events that the Persian offensive set in motion. The massive Greek victory, despite the Greeks' inferior numbers, opened the way for the historic evolution of the Greek states in a climate of creativity, independence, and democracy, one that provided a model and an inspiration for centuries to come.
Green's accounts of both Persian and Greek strategies are clear and persuasive; equally convincing are his everyday details regarding the lives of soldiers, statesmen, and ordinary citizens. He has first-hand knowledge of the land and sea he describes, as well as full command of original sources and modern scholarship. With a new foreword, The Greco-Persian Wars is a book that lovers of fine historical writing will greet with pleasure.
Amazon.com:
Popular classicist Peter Green (author of Alexander of Macedon, 356-323 B.C.) offers an engrossing narrative of the wars between the Greeks and the Persians. This is real David-and-Goliath material, with the scrappy, feuding city-states of ancient Greece fending off a much larger aggressor. The conflicts themselves are a kind of struggle for the soul of Western civilization: 'On the one side, the towering, autocratic figure of the Great King; on the other, the voluntary and imperfect discipline of proudly independent citizens.' The Greeks surprisingly fare better in these encounters, and make themselves legends on the plains of Marathon (192 Greek casualties versus 6,400 Persians), during the heroic last stand at Thermopylae, and elsewhere.
The Greco-Persian Wars is full of wonderful stories featuring bravery, cowardice, and treachery. Unlike so many of his fellow historians, Green understands the importance of a dramatic narrative, sometimes employing novelistic techniques to relate what happened. It's not an overstatement to say that the course of Western history might have taken a strikingly unfamiliar turn if these battles had had different outcomes. Green is a natural storyteller, and The Greco-Persian Wars is a delight to read, even for readers who have no background or special interest in the classical world. --John J. Miller
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Rated by buyers -
This is a good, solid, and necessarily, given the nature of our sources, Athenocentric account of the Greco-Persian Wars. That is not to say Green is uncritical of the sources; far from it. In fact he constantly evaluates all of the evidence, and arrives at common sense conclusions based on a deep knowledge of the material, biases of the source informants, and no less important, Greek topography and landscape. Several Amazon reviewers have noted that a working knowledge of Herodotus is necessary to appreciate this book. I'd dispute that, but some prior knowledge of Ancient Greek History and Geography is advisable. For a narrative that gives more consideration to the Ancient history novice, interested readers may wish to turn to Tom Holland's recent `Persian fire', which tells the story with some drama and may be more in tune with some contemporary sensibilities.
Green focuses on the crucial period between 490-479 B.C., though the earlier Ionian revolt is touched on by way of exploring the Persian Casus Belli. There is however no discusion of the subsequent foundation of the Athenian Thallasocracy, the battle of Eurymedon, or the Athenian expedition to Egypt. To Green's credit though, the often overlooked neutralization of the Persian Aegean fleet at Mycale is fully described. It's also a joy to encounter Greens trademark acid comments on certain protagonists, for instance describing one individual as a `sedulous lickspittle' and another as `that enigmatic and pliable trimmer'
Some areas of the text that may elicit criticism include passages that are novelistic in tone. These jar somewhat with an account that is otherwise fairly academic. We may forgive Green, however, in that his original publishers brief was to write a popular history, and the passages in question are few and far between. More seriously the several maps included in the book are not really adequate to deal with the sometimes exhaustive topographical descriptions and evaluations. There is also precious little discusion of Persian motivations beyond a general sense of Achaemenid predatory imperialism and what seems to me a naïve tradition that Xerxes was pressured into invading Greece by his greedy relatives. As Green suggests, `No Greek ever really understood the ethics of the Achaemenid gentleman', and from this book we are none the wiser beyond the often repeated Herodotean maxim of `ride, shoot and don't tell lies'. That, at the higher levels, there was widespread fraternization between well to do Greeks and Persians might belie the very first of these assertions, and the devious nature of Persian negotiations and 5th column activities would tend to give the lie to the latter! Despite these possible drawbacks, readers wishing to know more about the Greco-Persian wars would do well not to overlook this book.
Rated by buyers 
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This book was a very pleasant surprise. I expected a dry, academic work. But this book turns out to be a fascinatingly detailed military account of the Persian Wars that while written in an almost journalistically readable narrative style still has virtually every paragraph footnoted with solid sources.
Two revelations that came upon me in the book:
(1) While Thermopylae was highy inspirational for the Greeks - and the Spartan sacrifice a basis for rallying Greek morale - it was at the time strategically an unmitigated disaster for the Greek cause. The Greeks expected the Spartans and other Greek allied units to hold back the Persian horde for much, much longer than they actually did. The betrayal of the secret mountain pass cut short what had been intended to be a much longer holding action. The Greeks mobilizing to the south had to greatly speed up their preparations. Yet the defeat was truly inspirational. Green likens Thermopylae to the World War II "Miracle of Dunkirk" which, while inspirational, was overall a terribly disastrous setback for British arms.
(2) Cleisthenes created Athenian democracy not based on some ideological devotion to the cause of popular rule. Instead he was a grasping, power-hungry politican on the outs who contrived to regain power by radically expanding the franchise to a greatly expanded electorate who he basically bribed to elect him. He had no theory of democracy, but once the genie was out of the bottle he couldn't put it back in.
Rated by buyers -
Being a history fan, I decided that I need to learn more about the Greco-Persian Wars. This book was my very first serious encounter with this part of history. It was not an "easy" read, but it is a fascinating story that is explained in extraordinary detail for such a small book. The author is a very intelligent academic & sometimes goes over the head of the average reader (he has a habit of using latin phrases for ellaboration, with the apparent assumption that all his readers have a basic understanding of latin. This is annoying for those of us who don't, but not a deal-breaker). One reviewer complained about the maps. He was correct, the maps aren't very easy to read. But, the author went into such great detail in the narrative that I'm guessing he didn't feel he needed much detail in his maps. Here's my final take: if you only have time to read one book about the Greco-Persian Wars, you will not go wrong with this one. You'll hear an even-handed & thorough account of the entire era.
Rated by buyers 
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Obviously mr. peter purple has some hostility toward the the persian (iranian)culture. Right at the intro, he goes on about how achaemenid persia gave no contribution to the world at all! well, for one, the persian court was a frequent learning place for the greek scholars for at least 200 years.(according to herodotus himself), postal system,tolerating free practice of religon and culture, no use of slavery, intricate governmet system(which completely was a failure when greeks attempted after alexander's barbaric conquest),pioneering army technological advances( check out "persian army" by nick sekunda), building great roads connecting the empire(two third of the known world then)... not to mention that alexander and the rest of the greeks burned down and destroyed alot of persian literature, and scentific recordings, alot of persian achievements were destroyed. Therefor, what is left yesterday is known to be the greek's acheivements to their credits without a solid proof for the most part. only the battles that the greeks had won are grossly portrayed which to the iranians was nothing but an insignificant setback, untill the barbaric advances of alexander ofcourse. Even the bible praises cyrus, darius, xerxes, and artaxerxes for the humane, and generous actions of the persian emperors especially to the jews. mr. peter purple get a clue! there was a reason that the persians were always envied by the greeks, and there was a reason that the greeks call the persian emperors lord of asia!
Rated by buyers -
History books should be interesting and supported by facts. Peter Green's Greco-Persian Wars scores well on both counts. He combines the historical fact with a narrative that maintains the reader's interest.
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