A highly academic read, Manousos E Kambouris pulls together numerous sources to recreate the interactions of Persia and Greece from an uncommon perspective.

Whilst I appreciate the effort and research that went into this book, I felt it was somewhat disjointed. The detailed descriptions of the battles were impressive, but the introduction felt hollow. There wasn't a well-formed argument, and a conclusion was all but missing.

It felt like the argument Kambouris was trying to make was an afterthought, and the real focus was on discovering and relating as much minutiae as possible about specific military actions and engagements.

The depth of information included is impressive, and I feel that having such a soft argument layered over it really hindered the overall enjoyment and quality of the book.