The gates of Athens

Iggulden, Conn

2020 . - Book . - xv, 442 sider

Historisk litteratur . - Novel . - Novels

Under Darius the Great, King of Kings, the mighty Persian army - swollen by 10,000 Immortal warriors - have come to subjugate the Greeks. In their path, vastly outnumbered, stands an army of freeborn Athenians, and among them is clever, fearsome and cunning soldier-statesman, Xanthippus. nowing defeat means slavery lends keenness to his already sharp blade. Yet people soon forget that freedom is bought with blood. Ten years later, Xanthippus watches helplessly as Athens succumbs to the bitter politics of factionalism. Traitors and exiles abound. Trust is at a low ebb. Which is when the Persians cross the Hellespont in ever greater numbers to raze Athens to the ground. Facing overwhelming forces by land and sea, the Athenians call on their Spartan allies for assistance - to delay the Persians at the treacherous pass of Thermopylae.Featuring two of the most famous battles of the Ancient World - the Battle of Marathon and the Last Stand at Thermopylae - The Gates of Athens is a bravura piece of storytelling in which a people, driven to preserve their freedom at any cost, committed acts both base and noble.

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