Thermopylae: The Battle That Changed the World

The former reviewers imagine that you can write a book on a three-battle day in some more than 340 pages (Spanish edition). If that is indeed the case, they'd better read a novel on the topic. No source, now and ever, will tell you the feelings of Demaratus, Megistias, and all the actors of this epopeia during the three day battle. Homer did that in the Trojan war, due to the very nature of the conflict. Aristocratic, one vs one combats, in an age six centuries earlier than the Thermopylae battle, with a quite different concept of war. Some others tend to ignore the fact that a war is a business of a state and its allies against another one and its allies. Politics cannot be ruled out of a war, because, as "someone" put it, war is politics, by other means, as politics is war, by other means. In essence they cannot be divided. Others suggest that he is making a direct comparision between Thermopylae and the 9/11 hijackers' suicidal massacre of innocent people. Having read the book, from the beginning to the end, I don't see where, when Paul Cartledge states in no uncertain terms his awesome aversion for such acts as 9/11 and related massacres. Finally, many fail to see what the intent of this book is all about. That if we're to defeat terrorism in all its faces, we must show, at least, no lesser degree of 'assabiya (Wikipedia: Asabiyya) than that of our foes. And that playing to division and partisan games we are risking all the civilization we've created. The number of times he recall Simonides quotation, should make us see that we have our laws, voted by all, and that we have elements to develop such 'assabiya. If only for this message, I would award this book 10 stars. Being only able to award five, I award five, with honours.

After seeing the bloodbath of a movie I had to find out more about this epic and infamous battle-t- and was amazed by the depth and quality of the information contained herein. a thrilling and informative read- highly recommended.

'Go tell the Spartans, passerby, That here, obedient to their laws, we lie.' -- Simonides of Ceos The story of Leonidas and the 300 Spartans is a tale often told. It is recorded in most history books, and in dozens of other specialized books. In many of them, the story of the actual battle is better. Here the battle only takes eleven pages, it's almost an afterthought. What this book brings to the fore is the overall story of the war. It was at Thermopylae that the 300 Spartans made a suicidal fight against the Persians. It was probably not the first time for suicidal troops to function. And it certainly wasn't the last, both the defense of the Alamo and the suicide bombers of the Middle East (including the 9/11 'terrorists') and the Japanese Kamikaze come to mind. Nor was the outcome a surprise. Emboldened by Leonidas and the three hundred, the Greek states finally got their act together and defeated the Persians. In the ensuing years the Greek civilization developed the basic foundations of our Western culture that is once again under attack from the 'Persians.'

I can sum up my thoughts on "Thermopylae: The Battle that changed the World" by Paul Cartledge in one sentence. Buy "Persian Fire: The First World Empire and the Battle for the West" by Tom Holland instead. All of the material covered in "Thermopylae" is covered in greater detail in "Persian Fire". Additionally "Persian Fire" covers more material by far and reads like a novel to boot. Holland's writing style is eminently more readable and while I can't call "Thermopylae" plodding pedantry I can't call it an enjoyable read either. Even less appealing and interesting than a so-so argot were the topics covered in chapters eight and nine. Forty-six pages about what others thought about the battle and the legends and myths that surround it. While I'm sure someone somewhere is interested in what the critics of the artist Jacques-Louis David thought of his portrayal of the battle in "Leonidas at Thermopylae" (to say nothing of the sexual controversy that swirled around it) or what Miss Twinkleton, "who runs the academy for young ladies" in Charles Dickens's "The Mystery of Edwin Drood" had to say about Leonidas and Thermopylae, I most assuredly was not. Given that the description of the battle itself takes up a mere eleven pages (chapter seven) forty-six pages dedicated to the literary, artistic and cultural impact of the battle seems disproportionate, especially given the tremendous quantity of scholarship that has accumulated concerning phalanx warfare of late. Victor Davis Hanson has done yeoman's work on the subject and informed speculation or reference to other more thoroughly described battles in Classical Greece to illuminate the contest at Thermopylae were quite possible and would have fleshed out Chapter Seven and the book over all quite nicely. As I say it wasn't a "bad" book by any means. It's just a bit too short and weighted improperly in my humble estimation.

I always enjoyed Paul Cartledge's works despite of the fact that he's not a very inspiring or engaging writer. His works are usually well researched and his command of the subject proves to be first rate. After reading this book, I realized that the author's intent was not to write an in-depth study of the actual battle but the impact this battle had not only on the contemporary Greek world but how it impacted the history from that point on into our modern era. This book is more about cause and effect of the battle in light of history then the battle itself. The battle narrative proves to be limited to one chapter and its pretty short and sweet. While one reviewer wrote negatively about what the author included in his appendixs, it is just an appendix for reader's further information. I would think that one would be grateful that the author added appendixs when so many do not. I would also like to point out that I do not believed that the author was making a literal comparison between Leonidas and the 9/11 hijackers. What the author appears to say is that Leonidas and his Spartans willingness to died in losing battle appears to be a lost military trait among the western nations today while radical Isalmic terrorists like those of 9/11 hijackers still got the desire to kill and died freely for their cause, no matter how despicable it may be. This trait may be the reason why the radical Isalm may be hard to defeat. In conclusion, I would say this: it would be a mistake to regard this as a military history book. Its closer to being a social and philosphical look at the impact of Thermopylae. I would recommend the book by Ernle Bradford on the same subject but with a very different approach. Bradford's book gears more closely to the military history aspects of the battle then Cartledge's book. In some ways, reading both books will give any reader a very well rounded understanding of Battle of Thermopylae and its impacts in history.