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Book Review of Thermopylae: The Battle for the West

Thermopylae: The Battle for the West
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Helpful Score: 1


It's actually a history of the entire Greco-Persian war of 480BC, and some of the history surrounding it. This was written by a WW2 military man, not a historian, and given his comments on ancient bureaucracy, didn't make it up into the top echelons of the military. Very readable and interesting. He throws in several rather dated perspectives, such as Greek culture being superior to Persian culture, and talking about the hot-tempered Greek personality several times. However, he takes pains to show the Persians in a favorable light, and explains how if conditions had been a little different, the Persians may have been successful.