| PERSIAN FIRE BY TOM HOLLAND
Book review by Dwight I wasn’t a particularly enthusiastic student of history as a child. Math and Sciences were more my thing (which may provide comfort since our business does require some math skills). However, I have come to realize that although mankind doesn’t appear to learn much from history, to quote the philosopher George Santayana, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” Thus, I try to inform myself about the world today by examining the historical underpinnings of our current circumstances. A former intern of mine gave me a book as a gift recently. “Persian Fire,” by Tom Holland is an award-winning work of non-fiction by a renowned historical novelist. “Persian Fire” chronicles the Persian Empire around the 5th Century B.C., and the multiple attempted conquests of Greece, and hence Europe. We are all familiar with some of the great battles of this era, at least as told from the Greek perspective: Thermopylae, Peloponnesus, the Plains of Marathon… the blockbuster movie “The 300” sensationalizes the role of the Spartans in holding back the Persian Army. Holland’s book is an incredibly well-researched and annotated look at the period, and although it still leans heavily on the Greek perspective, it also provides great insight into the cultural, political, and religious history of the Middle East, and helped me understand some of the historical influences that have shaped Middle Eastern cultures, politics, and religion. In addition to learning more about the culture of the east, I also had reinforced a great deal about Greek culture… the issues facing modern Greece and the way the Greeks are addressing them have clear historical precedent. To say it is a page turner would be a slight exaggeration…there is a great deal of historical detail, and I often found myself turning the pages backwards to try to connect the dots on the monumental number of characters whose stories fill the book. That being said, Holland’s prose is beautiful, and the narrative exciting and engaging (though not an easy read).
“Persian Fire”, by Tom Holland, 2005, is published by Abacus Books.
| 
