Review Of Thermopylae: The Battle For The West By Ernle Bradford

In Thermopylae: The Battle For The West, Ernle Bradford is quite unbiased, favoring neither the athenians or spartans and explores both the eastern and western perceptions of the battle. He includes many quotes from Herodotus in this novel as well as many resources from ancient historians who experienced this war and predictions made by modern historians. The title of the book is, however, somewhat misleading in that it focuses more on the Persian empire's second invasion of greece. The organization of this novel is chronological which leads up to a climax and falling action which is the battle of platea and the defeat of the persians . Although there is no use of maps, which would have been quite helpful, the author was very descriptive of

They had their first reality check in Greece, but it wasn’t until the campaigns of Alexander the Great that their power was finally broken. “For over a thousand years, the East challenged the West, and the most crucial of all these challenges was that which was now set in motion by Xerxes” (location 423). An advantage that the Spartan army had over all other armies was that it had been training it’s men how to fight since they were young boys. An advantage for the Persians, unlike the Spartans, was that they were mountain men who were accustomed to fighting over rocky conditions. Xerxes had told his fleet to wait eleven days to leave after he left so they would get to Thermopylae at the same time, but this in turn led to a quarter of his ships being caught and destroyed in a storm offshore. Xerxes offered the Greek defenders a chance to leave safely if they laid down their arms, unsurprisingly enough, they rejected his offer. The delay of the attack on Thermopylae by Xerxes was due to the state of fleet caused by the storm. This did not really affect Xerxes’ state of mind because he was already in no great hurry. The Persians could hardly believe that such a small a force compared to theirs was preparing to come out and battle them. The Persians, confident is defeating them, began their underway. Not a single Greek ship was taken, while

That morning, the Persians were certain they were going to win this battle while the Greeks on the other hand, under charge of Leonidas, were certain that they were going to lose, and prepared to face their inevitable death. The Spartans were so loyal to winning this battle, that even when Leonidas himself had asked for a messenger, no one was willing to leave. “During this part of the action, Leonidas was killed, having fought most gallantly” (location 2014). After the battle had ended, Xeres inspected the battlefield and took note of the large number of his men that had gotten killed in battle by the Spartans and their allies. He ordered for the burial of these fallen soldiers so that any troops following up behind would not see and suffer a loss of morale.. The same day that Thermopylae was won by the Persian army, their fleet was preparing for an attack on the greeks at sea. They battled head to head in the Euboea Channel. The Greeks were fighting so viciously that they destroyed many of their enemies ships and forced the Persians to withdraw. With the loss of Thermopylae by the Greeks, they viewed the north as no longer being attainable, and also decided to end any land-sea endeavors to the north. After the battle at Thermopylae the greeks experienced an influx of pride and boost of