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There is an even handedness in Holland’s treatment of both Greek and Persian cultural riches that is rare in popular accounts of these wars.” — The Sunday Times (London) In the fifth century B.C., 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 Great King of Persia, and thereby saved not only themselves but Western civilization as well, is as heart-stopping and fateful as any episode in history. Tom Holland’s brilliant study of these critical Persian Wars skillfully examines a conflict of critical importance to both ancient and modern history.","forthcoming":false,"isbn13":"9780307279484","publication_date":"20070612","publisher":"Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group","slug":"persian-fire","subtitle":"The First World Empire and the Battle for the West","title":"Persian Fire"},"discovery":{"categories":{"all":[{"bisac_code":"HIS027220","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Ancient Warfare","score":0.7743,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"HIS026020","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Iranian History","score":0.7699,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"HIS002010","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Ancient Greece","score":0.767,"source":"bisac_hint_model"}],"hint":[{"bisac_code":"HIS027220","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Ancient Warfare","score":0.7743,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"HIS026020","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Iranian History","score":0.7699,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"HIS002010","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Ancient Greece","score":0.767,"source":"bisac_hint_model"}],"publisher":[{"bisac_code":"HIS002000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Ancient History","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"HIS027220","confidence_band":"high","label":"Ancient Warfare","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"HIS039000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Civilizations","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"}]},"genres":[{"label":"Ancient Warfare","score":0.7743,"slug":"ancient-warfare"},{"label":"Iranian History","score":0.7699,"slug":"iranian-history"},{"label":"Ancient Greece","score":0.767,"slug":"ancient-greece"}],"reader_fit":["Good for readers who enjoy Ancient Warfare","Good for readers interested in psychology","Good for fans of History"],"related_lists":[],"series":null,"similar_books":[{"authors":["Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones","Basic Books"],"book_id":"9781541604230","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781541604230.jpg?v=20260402T191500Z-bisacv2site-fullset%3A2026-04-05T16%3A15%3A58Z","score":17.0997,"title":"Persians","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781541604230"},{"authors":["Andrew Bayliss"],"book_id":"9781324117513","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781324117513.jpg?v=20260402T191500Z-bisacv2site-fullset%3A2026-04-05T16%3A15%3A58Z","score":16.1693,"title":"Sparta","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781324117513"},{"authors":["DK","D.K. 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