"The year 2022 marks 2,500 years since Athens, the birthplace of democracy, fought off the mighty Persian Empire. This is the story of the three epic battles--Marathon, Thermopylae and Salamis--that saved democracy, forever altering the history of Europe and the West."--In 499 BC, when the rich, sophisticated Greek communities of Ionia on the western coast of modern Turkey rebel from their Persian overlord Darius I, Athens sends ships to help them. Darius crushed the Greeks in a huge sea battle near Miletus and then invaded Greece. Standing alone against the powerful Persian army, the soldiers of Athens newly democratic state unexpectedly repel Dariuss forces on the planes of Marathon. After their victory, the Athenians strike a rich vein of silver in their state-owned mining district, and decide to spend the windfall on building a fleet of state-of-the-art warships. The next Persian king, Xerxes, assembles a vast multinational force, constructs a bridge of boats across the Hellespont, digs a canal through the Mount Athos peninsula, and bears down on Greece. The Athenians station their ships at Artemisium, where they and the weather prevent the Persians landing forces in the rear of the land forces under the Spartan King Leonidas at the nearby pass of Thermopylae.

Kershaw makes use of recent archaeological and geological discoveries in this thrilling and timely retelling of the story, originally told by Herodotus. -- adapted from jacket"The year 2022 marks 2,500 years since Athens, the birthplace of democracy, fought off the mighty Persian Empire. This astonishing clash between East and West still resonates in modern history -- and has left us with tales of heroic resistance in the face of of seemingly hopeless odds. In 499 BC, when the rich, sophisticated Greek communities of Ionia rebel against their Persian overlord, Darius I, Athens sends her ships to help them. Darius crushes the Greeks in a huge sea battle near Miletus -- and then invades Greece. Standing alone against the powerful Persian army, the soldiers of Athens newly democratic state -- a system which they have invented -- unexpectedly repel Dariuss forces on the planes of Marathon. Persia wants revenge. The next Persian king, Xerxes, assembles a vast multinational force and bears down on Greece.

Trusting in their "wooden walls," the Athenians station their ships at the Straits of Artemisium, where they prevent the Persian forces from landing. Simultaneously confronting the Spartan king, Leonidas, at the nearby pass of Thermopylae, Xerxess assault is a disastrous failure, until a traitor shows him a secret mountain track that leads behind the Greeks. Leonidas dismisses the Greek troops, but remains in the pass with his three hundred most trusted Spartan warriors -- where they are overwhelmed in a heroic last stand. Athens is sacked by the Persians. Democracy is hanging by a thread. But the Athenians convince their Greek allies to fight on in the narrow waters by the island of Salamis. Despite the heroism of the Persian female commander Artemisia, the Persian fleet is destroyed. THe decisive battles of Marathon, Thermopylae, and Salamis mark the beginning of Western civilization itself, instilling values of peace, freedom, and democracy in a region historically ravaged by instability and war" --.