The War of the Three Gods: Romans, Persians and the Rise of Islam - Hardcover

Peter Crawford

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1848846126 ISBN 13: 9781848846128

Publisher: Pen & Sword Military, 2013

Synopsis

War of the Three Gods is a military history of the first half of seventh century, with heavy focus on the reign of the Eastern Roman Emperor Heraclius (AD 610-641). This was a pivotal time in world history as well as a dramatic one. The Eastern Roman Empire was brought to the very brink of extinction by the Sassanid Persians, before Heraclius managed to inflict a crushing defeat on the Sassanids with a desperate, final gambit. His conquests were short-lived, however, for the newly-converted adherents of Islam burst upon the region, administering the coup de grace to Sassanid power and laying siege to Constantinople itself to usher in a new era. Peter Crawford skilfully narrates the three-way struggle between the Christian Byzantine, Sassanid Persian and Islamic empires, a period peopled with fascinating characters, including Heraclius, Khusro II and the Prophet Muhammad himself. Many of the epic battles and sieges are described in as much detail as possible including Nineveh, Yarmouk, Qadisiyyah and Nihawand, Jerusalem and Constantinople. The strategies and tactics of these very different armies are discussed and analysed, while maps allow the reader to place the events and follow the varying fortunes of the contending empires. This is an exciting and important study of a conflict that reshaped the map of the world.

About this title

About the Author:

Dr Peter Crawford gained a PhD in Classics at Queen's University Belfast under the tutelage of respected classicist Professor John Curran. This is his first book. He lives in County Antrim, Northern Ireland.

About this edition

• Publisher: Pen & Sword Military
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 1848846126
• ISBN 13: 9781848846128
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 270