Athens And Sparta (the Rivalry That Shaped Ancient Greece)
By (author) Goldsworthy, Adrian
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By (author) Goldsworthy, Adrian
Short description/annotation:
A dramatic exploration of two opposing cities, examining the politics, war and extremes of human behaviour in the ancient world.
Description:
Review quote:
A tremendously readable and enjoyable book, which really brings these two neighbouring yet radically different cultures to life.
Review quote:
To capture the push and pull of this complex entanglement from start to finish is Goldsworthy’s aim, one which he achieves in compelling fashion
Review quote:
A propulsive, large-scale history of ancient Greece, written with an authority to rival Thucydides.
Review quote:
Packed with intrigue and the politics of empire, revolution, and war, this accessible history of a tangled relationship between nations might strike some readers, the author warns, as ‘uncomfortably relevant''.
Review quote:
Goldsworthy is an excellent historian and skilful narrator... he provides an accessible, sweeping introduction to Greece in the fifth century BC.
Biographical note:
Adrian Goldsworthy studied at Oxford, where his doctoral thesis examined the Roman army. He went on to become an acclaimed historian of Ancient Civilisations, with numerous works of non fiction including Philip and Alexander: Kings and Conquerors, Caesar, The Fall of the West, Pax Romana, and Hadrian''s Wall.
Promotional headline:
A dramatic exploration of two opposing cities, examining the politics, war and extremes of human behaviour in the ancient world.
Feature:
From the author of Philip and Alexander - an extremely well respected historian specialising in ancient civilisations
Feature:
Ancient Greece is hugely popular and continues to be a subject of fascination for readers everywhere
Feature:
The first book in decades to tell the entire story of these two great cities instead of focusing on just the Persian or Peloponnesian Wars
Short description/annotation:
A dramatic exploration of two opposing cities, examining the politics, war and extremes of human behaviour in the ancient world.
Description:
Two great cities. One fierce rivalry. Countless untold stories.
Athens and Sparta were the two big players in Ancient Greece. United, they helped lead the Greeks in defeating the great Persian invasion. Divided, they spread conflict and destruction throughout the eastern Mediterranean. They were not simply rivals for power, but polar opposites in culture and ideology: Athens was the outward looking, radical democracy with a maritime empire whilst Sparta was militaristic, rigidly disciplined and brutal. Both were experiments in how to run a state, epitomising the extremes of the Greek longing to excel.
This is a story of politics and war, but also of culture. In Athens, philosophers dissected the physical and moral world, writers spun forth comedy and drama, and new ideas filled the city. Athens could be vulgar and cruel, but no other state has ever allowed thousands of citizens to debate its laws freely. Sparta was innovative in other ways, with a society divided into strict class groups and an astonishing focus on military training. Both cities were paradoxes – they were at once remarkably ordered and surprisingly prone to savagery.
Athens and Sparta tells a remarkable story of the drama and extremity of human behaviour. It draws on ancient sources and modern discoveries and boasts a wide-ranging cast of characters – statesmen, lawgivers, rabble-rousers, philosophers, artists, courtesans, wives and heroes. The history of these cities truly is a microcosm of the human experience, in all its wonder and horror.
The real history behind Christopher Nolan''s Odyssey.
Review quote:
A tremendously readable and enjoyable book, which really brings these two neighbouring yet radically different cultures to life.
Review quote:
To capture the push and pull of this complex entanglement from start to finish is Goldsworthy’s aim, one which he achieves in compelling fashion
Review quote:
A propulsive, large-scale history of ancient Greece, written with an authority to rival Thucydides.
Review quote:
Packed with intrigue and the politics of empire, revolution, and war, this accessible history of a tangled relationship between nations might strike some readers, the author warns, as ‘uncomfortably relevant''.
Review quote:
Goldsworthy is an excellent historian and skilful narrator... he provides an accessible, sweeping introduction to Greece in the fifth century BC.
Biographical note:
Adrian Goldsworthy studied at Oxford, where his doctoral thesis examined the Roman army. He went on to become an acclaimed historian of Ancient Civilisations, with numerous works of non fiction including Philip and Alexander: Kings and Conquerors, Caesar, The Fall of the West, Pax Romana, and Hadrian''s Wall.
Promotional headline:
A dramatic exploration of two opposing cities, examining the politics, war and extremes of human behaviour in the ancient world.
Feature:
From the author of Philip and Alexander - an extremely well respected historian specialising in ancient civilisations
Feature:
Ancient Greece is hugely popular and continues to be a subject of fascination for readers everywhere
Feature:
The first book in decades to tell the entire story of these two great cities instead of focusing on just the Persian or Peloponnesian Wars
