Persian Fire

The First World Empire and the Battle for the West

By: Tom Holland

Narrated by: Michael Page

In the fifth century BC, a global superpower was determined to bring truth and order to what it regarded as two terrorist states. The superpower was Persia, incomparably rich in ambition, gold, and men. The terrorist states were Athens and Sparta, eccentric cities in a poor and mountainous backwater: Greece. The story of how their citizens took on the Great King of Persia, and thereby saved not only themselves, but Western civilization as well, is as heart-stopping and fateful as any episode in history. Tom Holland's brilliant study of these critical Persian Wars skillfully examines a conflict of critical importance to both ancient and modern history.

©2005 Tom Holland (P)2016 Tantor

Another book about Greeks

What does Michael Page bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I can't say the narrator provides something that reading could not. However, the dramatized tone of this book could have been disastrous in less capable hands. Page's reading makes the text dramatic, where it might otherwise come across as corny.

Any additional comments?

Perhaps I did not adequately preview this book before purchase -- I was disappointed to discover that it is much more focused on a making-present of the Hellenistic "story" of the Persian threat than the Persian Empire itself. To that end, it is successful, so long as one is interested in the Greek narrative (as opposed to an anaylitical historical text -- there are a number of episodes recounted without aside which range from dubious to downright Greek fiction). I found value in this book, as it colorizes and synthesizes a number of (primarily Greek) sources elegantly. If you are unfamiliar with the details of the Greek resistance, this is an excellent place to start. The downside of this emphasis is that it has been done a number of times, and though this installment is a worthy telling of the Greek story, it is still, at root, a telling of the same, much-told story of Greek resistance.

This book is NOT an examination of the Persian Empire. Anyone desiring to learn more about Cyrus/Cambyses/Darius will likely be disappointed when, about an hour into the audiobook, Cyrus and Cambyses are already dead, and the book has turned to detailed considerations of Athenian and Spartan societies.

History well-told, as a story

Well-written and excellently performed by the narrator. If you have any interest in the ancient conflict between Persia and Greece, this is the perfect was to learn about it. My only complaint is that a PDF with some maps and perhaps a list of the key characters would have made this perfect. As it was, Wikipedia proved sufficient to support this deficiency.

Good narrative with a dry sense of humor

The paradoxes are interesting. There is a bit of sarcasm evident as well.

A nitpick - There’s quite a bit of usage of ‘Asia’ and ‘Europe’ without and explanation that in 3000BC, it meant different things in terms of land mass. Neither the Persians nor Greeks had much visibility in to things beyond Mediterranean Sea.

Excellent account of the Persian wars.

I felt as if I was living during the times of Cyrus the Great and the Persian wars. Character development and explanation of the times is great.

Greek Fire

Not to much about Persia. Greek Fire might be a better title.