The magic of mythology meets the grit of history in a blazing blockbuster retelling of the Persian Wars from award-winning author Tom Holland.
I come to tell you a story. A story unlike any that has been told before.
The Trojan War is ancient history. The gods of Olympus are silent and have not appeared to mortals for generations. In the city-state of Sparta, young Gorgo’s mother gives a warning with her dying breath: the Persians are coming. The princess Gorgo, weaned on her nurse’s stories of gods and shapeshifters, never forgets her mother’s last words. When at last the drums of war begin to sound, she is swept up in a dangerous game of politics, treachery, and vengeance. With the blood of Herakles and Zeus himself running through her veins and the awakening of a dormant supernatural power, Gorgo, now queen of Sparta, must help lead her city-state against a mighty empire. Unraveling like prophecy, Tom Holland’s dramatic reimagining of one of history’s most formidable wars will echo through the mind of the reader long after they have reached the final words.
Tom Holland is the author of Rubicon, Persian Fire, The Forge of Christendom, and In the Shadow of the Sword and is the translator of The Histories by Herodotus. He wrote and presented Islam: The Untold Story, a documentary commissioned for Channel 4 in Britain based on In the Shadow of the Sword. He lives in London with his wife and two daughters.
The magic of mythology meets the grit of history in a blazing blockbuster retelling of the Persian Wars from award-winning author Tom Holland.
I come to tell you a story. A story unlike any that has been told before.
The Trojan War is ancient history. The gods of Olympus are silent and have not appeared to mortals for generations. In the city-state of Sparta, young Gorgo’s mother gives a warning with her dying breath: the Persians are coming. The princess Gorgo, weaned on her nurse’s stories of gods and shapeshifters, never forgets her mother’s last words. When at last the drums of war begin to sound, she is swept up in a dangerous game of politics, treachery, and vengeance. With the blood of Herakles and Zeus himself running through her veins and the awakening of a dormant supernatural power, Gorgo, now queen of Sparta, must help lead her city-state against a mighty empire. Unraveling like prophecy, Tom Holland’s dramatic reimagining of one of history’s most formidable wars will echo through the mind of the reader long after they have reached the final words.
Tom Holland is the author of Rubicon, Persian Fire, The Forge of Christendom, and In the Shadow of the Sword and is the translator of The Histories by Herodotus. He wrote and presented Islam: The Untold Story, a documentary commissioned for Channel 4 in Britain based on In the Shadow of the Sword. He lives in London with his wife and two daughters.
