Book Review: The Falcon of Sparta by Conn Iggulden

About:

The Falcon of Sparta by Conn Iggulden is a fictionalized account of the book The Persian Expedition by Xenophon. Mr. Iggulden is a bestselling author, known for the Emperor, Conqueror, and Wars of the Roses series.

• 448 pages
• Publisher: Pegasus Books
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1643130560

 

My rating for The Falcon of Sparta – 5
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More Books by Conn Iggulden

Thoughts:

I knew very little about Artaxerxes and his brother Cyrus The Younger before picking up this book. The promise of Sparta together with a fantastic writer is what made me pick up The Falcon of Sparta by Conn Iggulden, and I was not disappointed.

Mr. Iggulden based this book on the account of Xenophon’s book, which on top of giving us context to a great historical battle, was also one of Socrates’ students and the few who put his wisdom into written words. Xenophon is one of the reasons we know about Socrates to begin with.

The book is divided into two parts. The first follows Cyrus and his efforts to build an army and challenge his brother for the throne of Persia. After the Battle of Cunaxa, the climax of the war between the two heirs to the throne the book changes protagonists and starts following Xenophon who leads the Greek mercenaries, known as the Ten Thousand. The mercenaries who are stuck deep in hostile territory, must fight the Persian Empire to get home.

The whole book was a lot of fun to read, entertaining and educational. I had no idea it was based on a real account until the end (my education on that part of history is … lacking), but was excited to find out that this events were based on reality.

Synopsis:

Artaxerxes, the Great King of Persia, has a problem – his brother Cyrus is marching with thousands of soldiers to try and overthrow him.  Within his army, Cyrus has 10,000 Greeks, Spartans who are revered by the rest of the army and the world.

One soldier in Cyrus’ army is Xenophon, a Greek who is trying to lead his fellow countrymen home after the fierce battle.

Zohar — Man of la Book
Dis­claimer: I got this book for free.
*Ama­zon links point to an affil­i­ate account