By Land and by Sea
The Persian Wars and the Birth of Classical Greece
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Oxford University Press Inc
Publishing:16th Feb '27
£22.99
This title is due to be published on 16th February, and will be despatched as soon as possible.
A bold new history of the Persian Wars that overturns long-held assumptions and reveals the surprising truths behind one of antiquity's most iconic conflicts Many who champion the idea of "Western Civilization" have only the loosest grasp of its history and of the Persian Wars, often portrayed as the heroic defense of "Western" values. Popular narratives frame these wars as East versus West, Greeks versus barbarians, with Greeks cast as defenders of freedom and Persians as cruel despots. This view echoes in pop culture, from textbooks to the graphic novel 300, where Leonidas of Sparta declares: "A new age has begun, an age of great deeds, an age of reason, an age of justice, an age of law..." As stirring as this vision may be, it is deeply flawed. It does not account for the fact that the Persian Empire was one of the largest and most stable of the ancient world, marked by religious tolerance and stunning cultural accomplishments. Stories of Greek exceptionalism overlook that while the Athenians lavishly praised their democratic victory over supposed Persian autocracy in the 5th century, they exercised tyrannical rule over other Greeks. By Land and by Sea offers a fresh, balanced look at both Persians and Greeks. Here, the Greeks emerge not as unified heroes but as fractious, short-sighted rivals, riven by internal conflicts. This account reveals that the Persian Wars were not an inevitable clash of civilizations but the product of miscalculations, logistical challenges, unpredictable politics, and a fatal inability to understand the other side's intentions. It is a story of mistrust and misunderstanding, far more complex and fascinating than the familiar tale of Greek heroism.
02/02/2026
It is indeed, as Jeremy J. McInerney sharply observes in his richly documented and finely judged account, but a short step from triumph to triumphalism. No doubt the Persians' defeat in their attempt to incorporate mainland Greece in their empire was a momentous caesura in world history. But as McInerney shows, the defeat's global reception was as momentous.. * Paul Cartledge, author of Pericles: Statesman, Demagogue, Eccentric *
By Land and by Sea offers an original and compelling account of the Greco-Persian Wars, challenging long-standing narratives that privilege Greek sources and uncritically celebrate the Greek victory. Written with clarity and wit, this book not only reinterprets a foundational moment in ancient history but also delivers a sobering insight: violence and war are central not only to empire, but to democracy itself. * Denise Demetriou, author of Phoenicians among Others: Why Migrants Mattered in the Ancient Mediterranean *
McInerney's book is not only 'unputdownable'; it is also a magnificent reexamination of the evidence about the wars. Completely devoid of the celebratory, anti-Persian tone that dominates the discourse that survives from Greece, By Land and by Sea is at once a riveting account of a very important war in world history and a model of scholarship. * Jennifer T. Roberts, author of The Plague of War: Athens, Sparta, and the Struggle for Ancient Greece *
The Greco-Persian Wars evoke grand tales of valor, clashing civilizations, and compelling personalities. They are all here. By Land and by Sea offers a balanced and accessible treatment of both Greek and Persian perspectives. McInerney skillfully guides the reader through the marvel of how the fractious Greeks were able to resist the might of the Achaemenid Empire, and how the politics of memory shaped these momentous events from antiquity to the present. * Matt Waters, author of King the World: The Life of Cyrus the Great *
ISBN: 9780197818763
Dimensions: 235mm x 165mm x 27mm
Weight: 671g
336 pages