The Battle of Salamis: The Naval Encounter That Saved Greece--and Western Civilization

The battle of Salamis in 480 B.C. was the most important naval encounter of the ancient world. In the narrow strait between the island of Salamis and the Greek mainland, a heavily outnumbered Greek navy defeated the Persian armada in a brilliant victory that is still studied today. The Greek triumph at Salamis stopped the advancing Persians and saved the first democracy in history. It made Athens the dominant city in Greece, gave birth to the Athenian empire, and set the stage for the Age of Pericles. On the Persian side, the battle of Salamis also featured history's first female admiral and sailors from three continents."The Battle of Salamis" features some of the most fascinating figures in the ancient world: Themistocles, the Athenian commander who masterminded the victory (and tricked his fellow Greeks into fighting); Xerxes, the Persian king who understood land but not naval warfare; Aeschylus, the Greek playwright who took part at Salamis and later immortalized it in drama; and Artemisia, the half-Greek queen who was one of Xerxes' trusted commanders and who turned defeat into personal victory. In his riveting story of this clash on the Greek seas, classicist and historian Barry Strauss offers a new in-depth account of the ancient battle. Drawing on recent work in archaeology, meteorology, and forensic science as well as on his own experience as a rower (both navies were oar powered), Strauss revises our understanding of one of history's pivotal wars and of Herodotus's classic if underrated account of it. But in addition to being exciting military history, "The Battle of Salamis" is also a vivid analysis of ancient culture.

Review :
Dava Sobelauthor of "Longitude" and "Galileo's Daughter" Barry Strauss is the Patrick O'Brian of the Persian-Greek war that set the course of western history. He builds a cast-of-thousands classical drama as exciting as any modern epic on a base of astounding detail. R. James WoolseyVice President, Booz Allen Hamilton, and former Director of Central Intelligence Led by a shrewd and bold commander, the sailors of the world's first democracy -- badly outnumbered, their capital destroyed -- drew strength from their freedom and crushed the forces of the massive Persian Empire to save the dawning of Western Civilization. Superbly told, and as dramatic as history gets. Steven Pressfieldauthor of "Gates of Fire: An Epic Novel of the Battle of Thermopylae" A ripping yarn of a world at the brink of annihilation and of the heroes (and fools) who brought it back from the edge. Strauss's deep scholarship and clear prose bring the men and the era alive. We can see the ships and smell the action, but more importantly, we understand what it meant -- for the Greeks then and for all of us now. This is the indispensable work on Salamis. Victor Davis HansonSenior Fellow, the Hoover Institute, author of "Carnage and Culture. Landmark Battles in the Rise of Western Power" Barry Strauss is one of the best ancient naval historians alive, and in "The Battle of Salamis" he combines his classical expertise with his natural gifts as a storyteller to make the inexplicable Greek victory not just explicable -- but captivating as well. The ensuing drama is as riveting as it is historically accurate.