SPARTAN WORLD RECOMMENDS
There are many books, films, magazines and countless other types of media which relate directly to, or in some way to Sparta and the Ancient world.

The question is... which ones are worth spending your hard earned money on ?

I have been asked by a lot of people which books etc I would recommend. Surprised by the amount of questions, I thought it was time for a "Spartan World recommends" section.

I hope that the opinions in this section can help you in your studies and also prevent you from spending money on "not so good " quality material.

Where appropriate, links will be provided but, Spartan World will not recieve any money from any possible sales. Spartan World is a non - commercial website.... and it will remain that way !!

SHADOWS IN THE DESERT
 Ancient Persia at war
by Dr Kaveh Farrokh

Newly released, Shadows in the Desert covers the history of the Ancient Persian Empire. The book however goes deeper into the subject than usual covering the three major periods of the "Empire", the Achaemenids, the Parthians and the Sassanians.

At first glance, Shadows is a professionally published book by Osprey publishing in the UK. On taking a closer look, you will notice an abundance of high quality maps and photos which help the newcomer to Persian history to easily follow the progress of the Empire.

I have been waiting for a book of this caliber for some years. Dr. Farrokh actually goes one step further and intelligently uses quotes from Herodotus and other Greek historians to compliment his book.

Being a specialist on Spartan history, I was pleasantly surprised to read the references to "our" well known historians. In short, a highly researched book on Persian history provides an amazing look into a subject which has sadly not been researched into at a depth which does this culture justice.

An added bonus point to the book, students of the Greek Persian Wars now have an excellent opportunity to learn about the "real" strengths and weaknesses of the mighty Persian Empire. This book deserves to be in any ancient history book collection, intelligently written and presented, Shadows in the Desert should be seen as a future classic on Ancient Persian research. Enjoy reading it !!

Shadows in the Desert: Published by Osprey
ISBN: 978-1-84603-108-3

Also availabe at Amazon.com