Overview
Persian Fire: The First World Empire and the Battle for the West is a historical study of the Persian Empire by popular historian Tom Holland, first published in 2005. It won the Runciman Award.
Reviews
James Buchan, writing in The Guardian gave the book a mostly positive review, praising Holland's writing as 'clear and uncluttered' and calling the set pieces 'thrilling'. However, he also criticized Holland's reliance on an unreliable source for information regarding the Spartan constitution and called some of the details 'anachronistic'.
Geraldine Bedell, writing in The Observer gave Persian Fire a wholly positive review, calling it 'fascinating'.
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