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Persian Fire
- Author
- Tom Holland
- Narrator
- Mark Meadows, Tom Holland
- Publisher
- Little, Brown Book Group
- Publish Date
- 5 September 2019
- Run Time
- 15 hours 48 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
- Genre
- History
- Rating
- 4.5 (2 reviews)
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What to expect
'Magisterial... told with great authority and a novelistic colour and verve'
Books of the Year, Independent
'Holland has a rare eye for detail, drama and the telling anecdote'
Dominic Sandbrook, Daily Telegraph
'An unequivocal argument for the relevance of ancient history'
Observer
'Holland brings this tumultuous, epoch-making period dazzlingly to life'
William Napier, Independent on Sunday
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 most powerful man on the planet is as heart-stopping as any episode in history.
Critics Review
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It is a testament to Holland's superlative powers as a narrative historian that he brings this tumultuous, epoch-making period dazzlingly to life
Independent on Sunday
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Holland has a rare eye for the detail, drama and the telling anecdote... A vibrant, bloodthirsty popular history, told with a rich sense of irony and irresistible narrative timing
Daily Telegraph
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Magisterial... told with great authority and a novelistic colour and verve
Independent on Sunday
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A page-turning account of a conflict that genuinely was one of the pivots on which world history has turned... His descriptions of the great confrontations of the war provide miniature masterclasses in the art of exciting historical writing... This is a terrific book, combining impeccable scholarship with the narrative drive of a fine novel
Sunday Times
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This book is an unequivocal argument for the relevance of ancient history... Holland never strains for modern references; they are implicit in the stories he tells with such scholarship and flair
Observer
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Excellent... Holland is a cool-headed historian who writes no less authoritatively and engagingly on classical Greece than he did on ancient Rome
Sunday Times
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Ambitious... a sweeping popular account that seems destined to become a classic
Seattle Times
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A welcome popularization of ancient history, with a nicely vengeful cliffhanger of an ending that begs for a sequel
Kirkus
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In the sweep and vividness of his prose Tom Holland does the subject proud, and he is also good at trying to look at the conflict as much through Persian eyes as Greek, and at getting inside the psyche of Darius and Xerxes
Literary Review
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Holland doesn't impose a modern sensibility on the ancient civilizations he describes, and he delves into the background histories of both sides with equally fascinating detail... the story of the Persian empire should be fresh and surprising to many readers, while Holland's graceful, modern voice will captivate those intimidated by Herodotus
Publishers Weekly
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Thrilling... a fascinating insight into Europe's development
Guardian
User Reviews
Book 4.5
Narration 5.0
-
5.0 5.0
Thoroughly enjoyed this....I bought it to increase my knowledge of pre-Roman history, expecting to listen to it while completing other tasks. Instead, I found myself completely engrossed - from being on the edge of my seat, to moments of 'wow, that explains so much'.
liw 2026-08-02 -
4.0 5.0
I really like Tom Holland on The Rest Is History, but I found this book a little hard to follow at times. This was partly due to the complex and unfamiliar subject, but also the style of writing. So many paragraphs would get diverted into related but non-essential details that the main story occasionally got a bit lost. I don't usually enjoy descriptions of battles but he does this superbly. In other sections, I found myself often having to stop and rewind and/or look up names in order to follow the action.
Malkini 2026-06-15
Details
- Author
- Tom Holland
- Narrator
- Mark Meadows, Tom Holland
- Duration
- 15 hours 48 minutes
- Release Date
- 5 September 2019
- ISBN
- 9781405544238
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Little, Brown Book Group
- Genre
- History
- Rating
- 4.5(2 reviews)
- Narration
- 5.0(2 reviews)
Synopsis
Tom Holland's bestselling account of the world's very first clash of civilisations between the Persians and the Greeks in 480BC'Magisterial... told with great authority and a novelistic colour and verve' Books of the Year, Independent'Holland has a rare eye for detail, drama and the telling anecdote'Dominic Sandbrook, Daily Telegraph'An unequivocal argument for the relevance of ancient history' Observer'Holland brings this tumultuous, epoch-making period dazzlingly to life' William Napier, Independent on SundayIn 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 most powerful man on the planet is as heart-stopping as any episode in history.
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