What do you think?
The Headlong God of War: A tale of Ancient Greece and the Battle of Marathon
[September 11th strike force has been launched against one of Western civilization's great centers of culture and trade. Funded by the most powerful man in the Middle East and carried out by his trusted lieutenants, this attack is intended to bring an end to Western democracy.] This is not the attack on the Twin Towers or the Pentagon in the U.S., but the invasion of Europe by the Persian Empire in 490 B.C. On a narrow plain that sweeps down to the Bay of Marathon in Greece, citizens of the world's first democracy will make a desperate stand against the greatest power of the ancient world, the Persian Empire.
- GenresHistorical FictionGreece
248 pages, Paperback
First published September 17, 2007
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
January 27, 2015
"Why sit you, Doomed Ones? ... all is ruined for fire and the headlong god of War, speeding in a Persian chariot shall bring you low."
Prediction of the Delphic Oracle to the Athenians, 5th century BC.
With this epigraph, so this novel begins . Although written several years after the author's debut novel In Kithairon's Shadow: A Novel of Ancient Greece and the Persian War I consider this one more or less a prequel, concerning an earlier facet of the Greco-Persian War of ancient times along with the run-up to war. Very enjoyable and hard to put down, this was a fast-moving novel leading up to and including the decisive Battle of Marathon, the run to Athens by Eukles to announce victory over the Persians. Historians today differ as to the exact identity of the messenger. Then follows the aftermath, with Athenians proudly showing the Marathon Plain to Spartans, who arrive as promised but not until the battle has been fought. The novel ends, as the previous novel began: with the announcement of the outcome of Thermopylae. Out of breath, a messenger brings the bad news: "Leonidas is dead. The Spartans are dead. The Persians are coming--again!"
As in the author's previous novel on Plataea, Martin moves in sections from different group to different group--both Greek and Persian, giving us a sense of their feelings and points of view of the action. They live and breathe: from Miltiades, the unabashed hero, though historically he was of dubious character; his sons; other Athenians, such as the famous Aeschylus, Aristides, Xanthippos [the opponent of Miltiades in the novel as well as historically] and Themistocles; Arimnestos of Plataea and his family. Arimnestos led the Plataean contingent. We follow several Persian officers, and of course, Darios, the Great King. Battle scenes were as good as I've read elsewhere.
The novel brought the whole era to life for me. I did enjoy reading about Arimnestos's domestic life and his sister's wedding to his best friend. Some quibbles; homophonic errors and the annoying use of "lie" as the past tense of the verb "to lie [down]; it should have been "lay". This occurred more than five times in the book. The "Cast of Characters" was incomplete and the Glossary was inadequate. Maps were fairly good, but sketchy.
On the whole, I highly recommend the book. I felt it concentrated mainly on the Marathon story along with events before and after, that touched on it.
Prediction of the Delphic Oracle to the Athenians, 5th century BC.
With this epigraph, so this novel begins . Although written several years after the author's debut novel In Kithairon's Shadow: A Novel of Ancient Greece and the Persian War I consider this one more or less a prequel, concerning an earlier facet of the Greco-Persian War of ancient times along with the run-up to war. Very enjoyable and hard to put down, this was a fast-moving novel leading up to and including the decisive Battle of Marathon, the run to Athens by Eukles to announce victory over the Persians. Historians today differ as to the exact identity of the messenger. Then follows the aftermath, with Athenians proudly showing the Marathon Plain to Spartans, who arrive as promised but not until the battle has been fought. The novel ends, as the previous novel began: with the announcement of the outcome of Thermopylae. Out of breath, a messenger brings the bad news: "Leonidas is dead. The Spartans are dead. The Persians are coming--again!"
As in the author's previous novel on Plataea, Martin moves in sections from different group to different group--both Greek and Persian, giving us a sense of their feelings and points of view of the action. They live and breathe: from Miltiades, the unabashed hero, though historically he was of dubious character; his sons; other Athenians, such as the famous Aeschylus, Aristides, Xanthippos [the opponent of Miltiades in the novel as well as historically] and Themistocles; Arimnestos of Plataea and his family. Arimnestos led the Plataean contingent. We follow several Persian officers, and of course, Darios, the Great King. Battle scenes were as good as I've read elsewhere.
The novel brought the whole era to life for me. I did enjoy reading about Arimnestos's domestic life and his sister's wedding to his best friend. Some quibbles; homophonic errors and the annoying use of "lie" as the past tense of the verb "to lie [down]; it should have been "lay". This occurred more than five times in the book. The "Cast of Characters" was incomplete and the Glossary was inadequate. Maps were fairly good, but sketchy.
On the whole, I highly recommend the book. I felt it concentrated mainly on the Marathon story along with events before and after, that touched on it.
July 14, 2012
Peter Krentz in "The Battle of Marathon" describes in detail the equipment, terrain and tactics that shaped the Battle of Marathon, but he singularly fails to make Maraton an exciting story or to bring the characters to life. While his facts and analysis make an important contribution to understanding Marathon -- a battle that was arguably more significant than Thermopylae, his failure to excite our emotions as well as inform our minds destracts significantly from the impact of the book. Martin's "The Headlong God of War" makes up for these deficits and is as a result an excellent companion to Krentz's book for the scholar while being far more accessible to the laymen. If I could recommend only one book on Marathon, I would prefer Martin's account to Krentz' because it is both good history and a good story.
Particularly impressive is Martin's ability to make Miltiades, the Athenian commander at Marathon, comprehensible and likeable. The historical Miltiades is at best complex and at worst a shady character. His relationship to both the Persians and Athenian democracy was ambivalent, not to say treacherous. Yet Martin succeeds in turning him into a character that the reader can readily identify with. I especially liked the way Martin portrayed his relationship to his sons, something that is based on the historical record and described with great sympathy.
But Miltiades is not the only historical character Martin effectively brings to life in this novel. His portrayal of the tyrant Aristagoras is likewise excellent -- and chilling. Few scenes from any novel have stayed with me as long as Marin's description of the arrival of Histiaios' messenger at Aristagoras' court. Likewise, his Persian characters have greater depth and differentiation than is common. For the sake of a good, historically accurate story with believable characters, I'm willing to overlook the occassional typos and editing errors.
Of Martin's three books on ancient Greece this is my favorite. I recommend it to anyone interested in Marathon specifically or ancient Greece generally.
The Headlong God of War: A Tale of Ancient Greece and the Battle of Marathon, The Battle of Marathon
Particularly impressive is Martin's ability to make Miltiades, the Athenian commander at Marathon, comprehensible and likeable. The historical Miltiades is at best complex and at worst a shady character. His relationship to both the Persians and Athenian democracy was ambivalent, not to say treacherous. Yet Martin succeeds in turning him into a character that the reader can readily identify with. I especially liked the way Martin portrayed his relationship to his sons, something that is based on the historical record and described with great sympathy.
But Miltiades is not the only historical character Martin effectively brings to life in this novel. His portrayal of the tyrant Aristagoras is likewise excellent -- and chilling. Few scenes from any novel have stayed with me as long as Marin's description of the arrival of Histiaios' messenger at Aristagoras' court. Likewise, his Persian characters have greater depth and differentiation than is common. For the sake of a good, historically accurate story with believable characters, I'm willing to overlook the occassional typos and editing errors.
Of Martin's three books on ancient Greece this is my favorite. I recommend it to anyone interested in Marathon specifically or ancient Greece generally.
The Headlong God of War: A Tale of Ancient Greece and the Battle of Marathon, The Battle of Marathon
August 18, 2019
Great book. Love this time period.
Read
October 9, 2013“The Battle of Marathon, Eukles famous run from Marathon to Athens announcing the victory over Persians to the citizens. This by far is the most known historical fact without much knowledge of the setting. This book describes the Persian Kings invasion on mainland Greece to annex Athens, the hub or the center of the European power. Kind Darios troops land at Marathon with a army four times bigger than the Unified Greek army. The whole of Greece know that if the Persians win then itâ��s the end of freedom & way of life. Its brilliantly crafted plots, facts & fiction collide to make a superb read which is actually not too far from the truth. ”
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews