Rise of an Empire: How One Man United Greece to Defeat Xerxes's Persians - Hardcover

Dando-Collins, Stephen

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1630261580 ISBN 13: 9781630261580

Publisher: Wiley, 2014

Synopsis

The true story behind the events in 300: Rise of an Empire, the sequel to Zack Snyder's 300

The action-filled movie 300 focused on Ancient Greece's epic battle of Thermopylae, in which King Leonidas led 300 Spartans into battle against Xerxes and his million-strong Persian forces. In the sequel, 300: Rise of an Empire, the action moves to the sea, covering ten years starting with the Battle of Marathon and ending with naval engagement the Battle of Artemisium, which occurred the same day as Thermopylae.

Rise of an Empire tells the story of the real men and events depicted in the movie, focusing on the Athenian general Themistocles, one of the world's greatest warriors. He became warlord of Greece, built their navy and, by uniting Greece to defeat Xerxes' fleet, enabled what we call western civilization. Packed with vivid detail, clashes of arms and ships, blood and glory, Rise of an Empire tells a story even bigger than the big screen could contain.

• Both an essential read for fans of the 300 movies and the Frank Miller graphic novels they're based on
• An insightful exploration of the leaders who feature in the film, their backgrounds, motivations, command decisions, struggles, victories and defeats, from the Battle of Marathon through the Battles of Artemisium and Salamis: Xerxes, the Persian king determined to succeed where his father failed, and Themistocles, overcoming monumental hurdles to turn Athens into Ancient Greece's greatest sea power and leading city-state of the age
• A gripping narrative of the real-life naval battles of the first and second Persian invasions of Greece, with fascinating detail about the ships, the warriors and the tactics

About this title

Review:

""The legions' foremost living historian."" Arts & Letters Monthly, U.S.

"A very fine historian." --Phillip Adams, ABC Late Night Live

"A gifted storyteller." --The Independent Weekly

""Absorbing . . . Military history is the muscle of this book, with enough political sinews to give it coherence." --Washington Times, for Caesar's Legion

"Unique and splendidly researched . . . Many military historians consider Caesar's legions the world's most efficient infantry before the arrival of gunpowder. This book shows why. Written in readable, popular style, Caesar's Legion is a must for military buffs and anyone interested in Roman history at a critical point in European civilization." --T. R. Fehrenbach, author of This Kind of War, Lone Star, and Commanches, for Caesar's Legion

About the Author:

Stephen Dando-Collins is the author of "Caesar's Legion: The Epic Saga of Julius Caesar's Elite Tenth Legion and the Armies of Rome, Nero's Killing Machine: The True Story of Rome's Remarkable Fourteenth Legion, Cleopatra's Kidnappers: How Caesar's Sixth Legion Gave Egypt to Rome and Rome to Caesar, "and "Mark Antony's Heroes: How the Third Gallica Legion Saved an Apostle and Created an Emperor. "He is an Australian-born researcher, editor, and author who has spent the last three decades identifying and studying the individual legions of the Roman army of the late Republic and the empire of the Caesars.

About this edition

• Publisher: Wiley
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 1630261580
• ISBN 13: 9781630261580
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 282