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Ancient Greece
Athens’s Naval Mastermind: In Conversation with Michael Scott
Themistocles is a name that conjures up many adjectives and epithets – visionary, outsider, the architect of Athenian maritime success, and, ultimately, the exile who ended his days living among his once-enemies. Michael Scott discussed his new biography with the Editor.
Picture the straits as plumes of smoke rise above the abandoned Acropolis of Athens just a handful of miles away. The Persian armada lies in wait and the King of Kings, Xerxes, watches from the shore. An unlikely Greek alliance wavers on the brink of certain defeat,...
2026 Summer Reads from Aspects of History
Our authors and contributors recommend books to take on your summer holidays.
Summer Reads from Aspects of HistoryZeb Baker-Smith Editor at Aspects of HistoryPaul Knox’s Lost London offers a captivating itinerary of 25 buildings which are no longer, but whose lifespan shaped the capital’s architectural story, revealing how the perennial cycle...
Tyrants and Demagogues
Drawing on the history of Syracuse, the author outlines the inspirations behind his new novel and examines just how power, identity and war shaped Sicilian history.
I have been fascinated by the multi-cultural history of Sicily since I read Kingdom in the Sun by John Julius Norwich. When I first arrived in Sicily fifteen years ago, I was quite literally dazzled by a confusing and exotic mix of architectural styles, languages, and...
Athens and Sparta: The Rivalry that Shaped Ancient Greece, by Adrian Goldsworthy
An ambitious and successful account demonstrating how unlikely alliance and antagonism, rooted in identity and ambition, led to the Peloponnesian War.
The Romans too often get the good gigs, both on our screens and on the shelves, these days; the Greeks, not so much… That is the starting point of Adrian Goldsworthy’s journey east across the Mediterranean and his sweeping account of the two headline acts at the tip...
Episode 264
Democracies vs. Authoritarian States
A never-so-timely comparison of Athens and Sparta explores whether political freedom can establish military superiority and determine the outcome of ideological conflict.
Do the good guys always win? It would be nice to think that open, democratic societies are healthier and stronger and have inbuilt advantages over authoritarian regimes. After all, in World War Two the democracies led by Britain and the USA smashed totalitarian...
Head of Zeus
Head of Zeus opened for business on 3rd January 2012, won Digital Business of the Year at the British Book Awards in 2015, Independent Publisher of the Year in 2017, and joined the Bloomsbury family in 2021. Across our six imprints, we're digital pioneers, beautiful book makers and lovers of great storytelling.
Books Click on any of the books covers below to either buy or get more information on AmazonFrom the Publisher Head of Zeus opened for business on 3rd January 2012, won Digital Business of the Year at the British Book Awards in 2015, Independent Publisher of the Year...
Episode 257
Sparta: The Rise and Fall of an Ancient Superpower, by Andrew Bayliss
A nuanced reassessment of Sparta that challenges the myths and looks closely at the society behind them.
In this compelling narrative study of the rise and fall of Sparta, Birmingham University professor, Andrew Bayliss, seeks to strip away the myth of the Spartans, peer behind the lens of unreliable ancient historians, and get to the heart of what this extraordinary...