Thermopylae the Battle for the West: great for the researcher

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	• Thermopylae: The Battle For The West Ernle Bradford Da Capo Press, 2004 - 256 pages average customer review:based on 33 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Very good read!

The book was very thorough and covered the subject very well. Each chapter was broken down into ten pages or less and each one took on a very specific subject, perfect for a light reading on the subject. It would have been nice to have some breakdown of the individuals in the beginning, because there are many and at times I had to back track to see who was who and what they had done. More maps, especially later when the details of where ships are sailing or troops are moving, maybe a map at the beginning of each chapter to help keep things moving without breaking the reading momentum.

Overall, a good read, and I enjoyed it very much.

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East versus West

I found the author gave a very good background to the story of Thermopylae. It is hard to add much to an event that took place nearly 2500 years ago but his description of the world picture and the battle were able to transport you to another level. He delim=neates the real reason for the importance of the battle the domination of the East over the West or Asia over Europe. I found the work well worth my time.

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An Impressive Account

I have read other books by the late Ernle Bradford and did not have to think twice about purchasing this one. I know Mr. Bradford to be an excellent and thoughtful writer; he may qualify as an historian by profession but he has a profound love of the ancient Greek world and as a sailor who has navigated the waters of the Aegean he has special practical knowledge. His book is a refreshing look at the battle of Thermopylae and the events of the Greco-Persian War.

Mr. Bradford's is a concise history of the Greco-Persian Wars but by no means is it lacking in substance or an abridgement. Certainly Peter Green's excellent volume is, arguably, the best and most thorough book on the war but Bradford's Thermopylae is highly readable and presents a good discussion of the people and events of the Greco-Persian War.

Mr. Bradford lays out his chapters nicely beginning with a discussion of Xerxes and his forbearers who created the Persian Empire; he is even-handed in his portrayal of the Great King discussing his weaknesses and noble traits. We are them given an overview of the Greek world concentrating on Athens and Sparta followed by how soldiers on both sides were armed and fought each other and their respective navies. He also provides a chapter on the invasion of Sicily by the Carthaginians and round out his book with a good discussion of Salamis and the final battle of Plataea.

I think the Mr. Bradford's words would speak better than any I could put together so here is an excerpt from chapter 18:

"Thermopylae, which has been wrongly compared in recent times to the evacuation of Dunkirk, can be counted a victory in moral terms. The right men had been there, in the right place and at the right time - but far too few of them. Had Sparta sent a thousand men instead of a king's bodyguard of three hundred, the Phocian force guarding the pass over Kallidromos could have been stiffened by a leaving of Spartan officers who would have made sure that it was, at the very least, hotly contested. In the end, in view of the size of the Persian army, there can be small doubt that the result would have been much the same...Quite unlike Dunkirk, which was a withdrawal, Thermopylae was a deliberate self-sacrifice by a handful of men who died so that the fleet at Artemisium might stay in being."

This is an engaging book (certainly better than some books that I have read on the same subject) that holds the reader's attention and I would not hesitate to recommend to someone who wants to about Thermopylae and the events surrounding the battle.

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Thermopylae the Battle for the West: great for the researcher

As I was strolling through the book store and couldn't find a book that suited me for my school project, I decided to check out the history section. I then I saw this book Thermopylae the Battle for the West. I had done a report on this battle not long ago, but not in much detail. So I decided that I would check it out and give it a try. After getting about forty pages in I started to realize that this is not the book to read for fun. It is extremely interesting and the author definitely knows about what he is writing, and this is definitely the book to read if you have to research the subject.

This book goes into detail about everything that has remotely anything to do with the Greek and Persian relationship leading up to the war and the battle between the two empires, but does not cover in detail the actual battle of Thermopylae in that great of detail. It has 240 plus pages about such things as the bridges the Persian Empire built to the history and relationships of the Greek City States. As a reader with no projects to do on the battle or research papers to write, I found it very interesting but I would only pick it up for thirty minutes every other day I found it hard to keep everything straight. That could be contributed the fact that I have no real knowledge of the history leading up to the battle (which Ernle Bradford covers in great detail).

On the other hand if I was to be writing a research paper on the subject I would have struck gold. The book has a complete Index in the back of the book. This book is also extremely organized, not like some other history books I have read that start on one subject and lead into another and then link back to the previous subject. You will not find anything like that in this book. Thermopylae the Battle for the West Also includes quotes from people of the time which could be very useful.

Partially I decided to read this book in response to seeing the movie "300", which I though was one of the best movies I have ever seen. Seeing as I think that I am not the only one read this after viewing the movie I'm going to compare it. The movie puts the emphasis on the glory of the battle where this book puts the emphasis on the history of it. Also in the movie many think that they got all of the facts. When in reality they only see part of the facts, and this book explains why the battle happened. It also covers that famous scene from the commercials where the Persian messenger is kicked into a well and Leonidas yells "This Is Sparta!". The book says that it actually happened and goes into more detail about that incident.

I only had one regret with this book, and it's that I didn't read it faster. After reading this I am now much more educated on Greeks and Persians, and equipped with the knowledge needed to write a paper on the battle if I was to in the future. I recommend this book to all researchers out there and maybe even the casual reader only if they read it in reasonable time period and not over two months like me. I also encourage those movie goers who loved the movie to check out this book.

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Who you side with, says who you are

"it was the natural human tendency to elevate the battle at the hot Gates to an almost superhuman dimension and, having done so, to let the purpose of it be forgotten."

"Even the self-perpetuating bureaucracy of our modern Western, self-styled 'democratic', world would have seemed to the Spartans who died at Thermopylae an unacceptable thing."

There lies the moral of the whole story. It is not just a military history, it is a story of peoples choosing sides. Pushed to the brink were you have to choose what is really worth dying -and living- for. Here are the options that people (yesterday and today) consider before committing themselves to a country/party/policy/, etc. What would we fight for today? How much would you be willing to give up in the face of threats? Today we don't consider the real issues because wee don't see our lives threatened.

This book shows us what the people considered worth fighting for. Today things haven't changed, and that's what makes this book so relevant (besides well-written): we have today so much "noise" coming from the media and our elite classes (academia/bureaucratic establishment) that prevents us from listening to our own hearts when it comes to making sound and fundamental decisions.

Put yourself in the sandals of a Spartan or an Athenian in 5th century BC. and where would you stand? What would you live/die for?

The book covers Thermopylae, Salamis and Plataea.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

An impressively accessible narrative depicting the three-day battle for the pass at Thermopylae (the Hot Gates)--a critical contest in Xerxes's massive invasion of Greece. The bloody stand made there by Leonidas and his small Spartan army in 480 B.C. has been hailed ever since as an outstanding example of patriotism, courage, and sacrifice.

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