By Land and by Sea: The Persian Wars and the Birth of Classical Greece (Ancient Warfare and Civilization)

A bold new history of the Persian Wars that overturns long-held assumptions and reveals the surprising truths behind one of antiquity's most iconic conflictsMany who champion the idea of "Western Civilization" have only the loosest grasp of its history and of the Persian Wars, often portrayed as the heroic defense of "Western" values.Popular narratives frame these wars as East versus West, Greeks versus barbarians, with Greeks cast as defenders of freedom and Persians as cruel despots.This view echoes in pop culture, from textbooks to the graphic novel 300, where Leonidas of Sparta declares: "A new age has begun, an age of great deeds, an age of reason, an age of justice, an age of law..."As stirring as this vision may be, it is deeply flawed.It does not account for the fact that the Persian Empire was one of the largest and most stable of the ancient world, marked by religious tolerance and stunning cultural accomplishments.Stories of Greek exceptionalism overlook that while the Athen