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The End of Sparta
In this sweeping and deeply imagined historical novel, acclaimed classicist Victor Davis Hanson re-creates the battles of one of the greatest generals of ancient Greece, Epaminondas. At the Battle of Leuktra, his Thebans crushed the fearsome army of Sparta that had enslaved its neighbors for two centuries.
We follow these epic historical events through the eyes of Mêlon, a
Hardcover, 445 pages
Published
October 11th 2011
by Bloomsbury Press
(first published September 27th 2011)
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Historian Victor Davis Hanson has created an absolutely epic first novel with "The End of Sparta". It's built on a gigantic scale with larger than life warriors who fight in Herculean battles against opponents who have legendary reputations. Combatants walk across bloody battlefields fighting off not only near immortal foes, but also otherworldly gods and specters, all while holding the banner of freedom and democracy. All I could think of through the first third of the book is that this is what...more
I am a huge fan of Victor Davis Hanson's histories, and I was really looking forward to his first novel. I liked it, the story was great, and I got the feeling the thoughts and actions of the book's characters matched up to those of the Greeks of that time. Having known the story of the real Epaminondas and his Theban army defeating the Spartans and freeing the helots in Hanson's history books, I was able to follow the plot more easily. But I fear someone reading the book without that background...more
Interesting book, and interesting structure.
I found the first couple chapters the strongest, in fact, very, VERY strong - one of the best evocations of the Greek phalanx in battle. Amazingly visceral, awesome writing.
But the book slows down from there. Yes, there is backstory and exposition to... expose. And philosophy to ponder, characters to develop, scenes to set. I found it kinda slow, kinda long-winded. I wish Hanson had tightened up this middle section quite a bit.
We (readers) expected a...more
I found the first couple chapters the strongest, in fact, very, VERY strong - one of the best evocations of the Greek phalanx in battle. Amazingly visceral, awesome writing.
But the book slows down from there. Yes, there is backstory and exposition to... expose. And philosophy to ponder, characters to develop, scenes to set. I found it kinda slow, kinda long-winded. I wish Hanson had tightened up this middle section quite a bit.
We (readers) expected a...more
The book is too long, and the story bogs down for me in the secondary characters. But, like other reviewers note, Hanson makes up for this with an epic style and great descriptive action. When he describes the Spartan march just prior to the Battle of Leuctra, you know for sure that your knees would knock and your bladder would void had you been there.
I'm glad Hanson tackled this subject, which in the wake of '300' is timely. I understand and appreciate Spartan valor and sacrifice, and the movie...more
I'm glad Hanson tackled this subject, which in the wake of '300' is timely. I understand and appreciate Spartan valor and sacrifice, and the movie...more
This book missed on way too many levels for me.
The story really didn't get started until after the first 6 or 7 chapters. Way too much time to lead into the story.
And once the meat and potatoes of the plot began, there was nothing interesting to captivate you in the least bit.
The author doesn't dig into the emotions or the minds of any of the characters so its difficult to invest anything emotionally into this story.
This is supposed to be historical fiction, and maybe it is. But it just reads l...more
The story really didn't get started until after the first 6 or 7 chapters. Way too much time to lead into the story.
And once the meat and potatoes of the plot began, there was nothing interesting to captivate you in the least bit.
The author doesn't dig into the emotions or the minds of any of the characters so its difficult to invest anything emotionally into this story.
This is supposed to be historical fiction, and maybe it is. But it just reads l...more
Told with the elegant literary grace of Homer's poetry and just as compelling as any Tom Clancy military thriller, "The End of Sparta" is Victor Davis Hanson's vividly rendered fictional portrait of Theban general Epaminondas as seen through the eyes of these fictional characters, the gentleman farmer Melon and his two most trustworthy slaves and friends, his personal servant Chion and the virgin seer Neto. Hanson recounts in spellbinding prose, the little known history of Epaminondas, his armie...more
This was an outstanding debut novel, although it will not be to everyone's taste. The author is one of my favorite historians and the book reflects his intimate knowledge of the events portrayed. His writing avoids the sometimes awkward wording that most first time novelists have, but it is Homeric in style, which is not an easy sell in the 21st century. It is not an easy read, and I can understand how some readers would be put off by it. In fact, I delayed reading it due to some of the negative...more
I'm usually a fast reader, but I started this several months ago and am still "currently reading." (I do intend to finish, it's just been slowgoing.) I'm about halfway and can say so far:
--The battle scenes (from early on) were very good. I was able to understand and imagine something of what it was like to be a spearman in the phalanx.
--I've enjoyed learning some of the history of this time, including the small details of everyday life.
--I like names, including Greek names, so those haven't be...more
--The battle scenes (from early on) were very good. I was able to understand and imagine something of what it was like to be a spearman in the phalanx.
--I've enjoyed learning some of the history of this time, including the small details of everyday life.
--I like names, including Greek names, so those haven't be...more
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I was lucky enough to win a copy of The End of Sparta through Goodreads. It is the first book that I have read by Hanson. Hanson does an amazing job with creating the ancient world and making the reader really get an idea of what life was like. The book starts with the march into the battle of Leuktra and immediately puts the reader in the middle of the action. The story has several main characters but the ones that stand out are Melon, Chion, and Neto. Each is a hero of the battle to free the e...more
I thoroughly enjoyed this book for several reasons. The main being the style of prose! Hanson emulates the epic style found in the Iliad and Beowulf. It's a refreshing way to read of daily life and battles from ancient times, immersing one self into his story (and history). This is not a fast read and some will find the language difficult at first. However, reading this over several days allows one to approach it with a fresh appreciation for the effort and skill used to write in this language....more
This book was a truly imaginative fictionalization of critical piece of the Spartan history that I was unfamiliar with and was captivated with in reading. The core source of this later episode in the 400+ years of the "sway of the Laconic Spartan culture" is well told but oddly enough not well understood by moderns, in part, I'm thinking due to the strange bias noted by the author and others of the great historian and narrator /active player in the early history of the Greeks, Xenephon.
Why? rea...more
Why? rea...more
Excellent historical insight but slow reading. After the way Hanson has exposed Sparta in this novel, there can never be sufficient edification of Sparta and even Leonidas and the Three Hundred cannot rebuild the image.
Okay...I did not actually read this one. I tries for about four chapters, but no dice. Way too boring. four chapters and only about two lines of dialogue. Not the book for me.
This ain't light reading; it's more didactic than entertaining. National Review Online did an interview with VDH about it-- he didn't write the book to be a page-turner; he was trying to be fastidiously accurate, even to the tone of the dialogue, which is stuffy to the modern ear. (He wrote the speeches in Greek first, and translated them into English. Wow.)
But there aren't many entries into the Theban triumph over Sparta, nor Epaminondas, the leader of that sea-change in Greek history. So this...more
But there aren't many entries into the Theban triumph over Sparta, nor Epaminondas, the leader of that sea-change in Greek history. So this...more
Great way to get into ancient history from a great historian without working through all the various source materials used to write it.
Really tried to stick with this book, but I got too bored after about the halfway point. Takes you forever to figure out the characters, as the names are quite different to us and then they throw in Greek words that you would spend most of your time looking them up on line. Just thought it had looked interesting when I picked it up.
This book was very hard for me to get in to at first. The style of writing made it slow going and there were so many characters that it was hard to keep them all straight. However, by the end I found myself really drawn into the book and wanting to see what would happen.
Taking it back to library, unfinished
Not my cup of tea at all
I really enjoyed the story, seeing these ancient figures come to life, however I did have a problem with the names and some of the terms. I guess I need to go back and study Ancient Greek history some more. Definitely worth reading.
Jun 13, 2013
Jocelyn
marked it as to-read
Jun 09, 2013
Julie
marked it as to-read
Jun 05, 2013
Ari Pettit
marked it as to-read
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Hanson was educated at the University of California, Santa Cruz (BA, Classics, 1975), the American School of Classical Studies (1978-79) and received his Ph.D. in Classics from Stanford University in 1980. He lives and works with his family on their forty-acre tree and vine farm near Selma, California, where he was born in 1953.
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