by Ernle Bradford
McGraw Hill, 1980
Comments: This is the second book by Ernle Bradford that I've read and I'll confess to having become a huge fan. He seems to excel at presenting complex historical events as clear, coherent stories built on the perfect level of detail. Here, he once again takes on a subject near the core of his expertise on Mediterranean history: the quintessential story about the clash between the Greeks and Persians at the battle of Thermopylae in 480 B.C., and the larger war that followed. Bradford makes the case that although the Persians are nominally credited with "winning" this war, the cost was so great that the practical outcome ultimately favored the new Greek alliance, leading to a 500-year golden age of enlightenment that, as the title reflects, thoroughly shaped the future of the Western world.
Bradford's research on the subject is solidly based on the classical historical records, but his personal military experience and longtime immersion in Mediterranean culture allows him to flesh out more of the subjective motivations and experiences of the events. His comprehensive knowledge of the region's geography is readily apparent, conveying a rich descriptive visualization of the locales and adding much to the understanding of how critical actions were influenced by the landscape. As so often in war, geography matters a great deal. Bradford is clear when providing his own conjecture about details for which there is no record, but his explanations are so well presented that they often seem more than simply plausible, but likely, and these imagined details contribute greatly to the richness of the story.
In case it's not clear, I loved this book. Although Bradford died almost thirty years ago, he left a significant body of work on various histories. I absolutely intend to find and read more of them.
Copy Notes: Hardback, first edition, illustrated with maps
