Synopses & Reviews
A stirring history of the world's first dominant navy and the towering empire it built The navy created by the people of Athens in ancient Greece was one of the finest fighting forces in the history of the world and the model for all other national navies to come. The Athenian navy built a civilization, empowered the world's first democracy, and led a band of ordinary citizens on a voyage of discovery that altered the course of history. Its defeat of the Persian fleet at Salamis in 480 BCE launched the Athenian Golden Age and preserved Greek freedom and culture for centuries. With Lords of the Sea, renowned archaeologist John Hale presents, for the first time, the definitive history of the epic battles, the indomitable ships, and the men-from extraordinary leaders to seductive rogues-who established Athens's supremacy. With a scholar's insight and a storyteller's flair, Hale takes us on an illustrated tour of the heroes and their turbulent careers and far-flung expeditions and brings back to light a forgotten maritime empire and its majestic legacy.
Review
"Nobody knows more about the history of oared ships around the world than John Hale, and he combines with it a knowledge of and love for the ancient Athenians that helps explain their achievement. To provide a new angle from which to view and understand the experience of the Athenians of the Classical age is a remarkable feat, but
Lords of the Sea accomplishes just that. The writing is utterly captivating and makes the reader feel he is back in ancient Athens among the great poets, historians, sculptors, architects, soldiers and sailors, all of whom were connected in important ways to the Athenian navy."
- Donald Kagan, author of The Peloponnesian War
"The dazzling moment of Golden Age Athens was built on democracy, silver, reason and power. It was arguably the most creative moment in history, when western architecture, philosophy, drama and politics were all given their fundamental form. Behind it all was the Athenian navy, its life and fortunes described here with exemplary clarity and a vivid engagement with the visceral realities of battle and the sea. John Hale combines fluent readability with up-to-date scholarship and a sense that in these pages you are witnessing not only a driving collective enterprise but the foundation-level struggles of our own world. This is tour de force of historical imagination."
- Adam Nicolson Author of the New York Times bestsellers God's Secretaries: The Making of the King James Bible and Seize the Fire: Heroism, Duty, and Nelson's Battle of Trafalgar
"Hale's simple but vigorous sentences prick up your ears from the first page... one hopes to hear more from him."
-New York Times (Dwight Garner)
"Compulsively readable...history so brilliantly told that, like the Athenian democracy, it is truly for all people."
-Louisville Courier-Journal (David Jones)
"Absorbing reading for those interested in either Greek or naval history...well- documented, with numerous maps, a chronology and glossary."
-Charleston Post and Courier (Lisa Isringhausen)
"You'd have to be half asleep to not become hooked by the first few paragraphs of Hale's Lords of the Sea."
-Cleveland Plain Dealer (Jean Dubail)
Review
"You'd have to be half asleep already not to become hooked by the first few paragraphs of John Hale's Lords of the Sea - The Cleveland Plain Dealer "Hale's simple but vigorous sentences prick up your ears from the first page...one hopes to hear more from him."-Dwight Garner, The New York Times "With something for almost everyone, "Lords of the Sea" tells an important story and imparts to him who wants to learn important lessons. It's well worth the read." -Washington Times "Dr. Hale's sparkling creation, that rare history so brilliantly told that, like the Athenian democracy, it is truly for all people." - Louisville Courier-Journal "Historian and archeologist Hale brings both skill sets to bear in this account of an Athens whose golden age and democratic institutions depended on its navy." - Publishers Weekly
Synopsis
The epic true story of Themistocles and the Battle of Salamis, and a rousing history of the world's first dominant navy and the towering empire it built
The Athenian Navy was one of the finest fighting forces in the history of the world. It engineered a civilization, empowered the world's first democracy, and led a band of ordinary citizens on a voyage of discovery that altered the course of history. With Lords of the Sea, renowned archaeologist John R. Hale presents, for the first time, the definitive history of the epic battles, the fearsome ships, and the men-from extraordinary leaders to seductive rogues-that established Athens's supremacy. With a scholar's insight and a storyteller's flair, Hale takes us on an unforgettable voyage with these heroes, their turbulent careers, and far-flung expeditions, bringing back to light a forgotten maritime empire and its majestic legacy.
Synopsis
The navy created by the people of Athens in ancient Greece was one of the finest fighting forces in the history of the world and the model for all other national navies to come. The Athenian navy built a civilization, empowered the world's first democracy, and led a band of ordinary citizens on a voyage of discovery that altered the course of history. Its defeat of the Persian fleet at Salamis in 480 BCE launched the Athenian Golden Age and preserved Greek freedom and culture for centuries. With Lords of the Sea, renowned archaeologist John Hale presents, for the first time, the definitive history of the epic battles, the indomitable ships, and the men-from extraordinary leaders to seductive rogues-who established Athens's supremacy. With a scholar's insight and a storyteller's flair, Hale takes us on an illustrated tour of the heroes and their turbulent careers and far-flung expeditions and brings back to light a forgotten maritime empire and its majestic legacy.
Synopsis
With a scholar's insight and a storyteller's flair, Hale takes readers on an illustrated tour of the heroes and their turbulent, far-flung expeditions, and brings back to light a forgotten maritime empire and its majestic legacy. b&w insert.
About the Author
John R. Hale studied at Yale and Cambridge before embarking on an archaeological career that includes extensive underwater searches for ancient warships. He has written for Antiquity, Journal of Roman Archaeology, and Scientific American and has been profiled by NPR and The New York Times. He has also been featured in documentaries broadcast by The Discovery Channel and The History Channel. He is currently the director of liberal studies at the University of Louisville.
Table of Contents
Lords of the Sea
List of Maps and Diagrams Preface
Introduction
Part One. Freedom
1. One Man, One Vision (483 B.C.)
2. Building the Fleet (483-481 B.C.)
3. The Wooden Wall (481-480 B.C.)
4. Holding the Pass (Summer, 480 B.C.)
5. Salamis (End of Summer, 480 B.C.)
Part Two. Democracy
6. A League of Their Own (479-463 B.C.)
7. Boundless Ambition (462-446 B.C.)
8. Mariners of the Golden Age (Mid-fifth Century B.C.)
Part Three. Empire
9. The Imperial Navy (446-433 B.C.)
10. War and Pestilence (433-430 B.C.)
11. Fortune Favors the Brave (430-428 B.C.)
12. Masks of Comedy, Masks of Command (428-421 B.C.)
13. The Sicilian Expedition (415-413 B.C.)
Part Four. Catastrophe
14. The Rogue's Return (412-407 B.C.)
15. Of Heroes and Hemlock (407-406 B.C.)
16. Rowing to Hades (405-399 B.C.)
Part Five. Rebirth
17. Passing the Torch (397-371 B.C.)
18. Triremes of Atlantis (370-354 B.C.)
19. The Voice of the Navy 354-339 B.C.)
20. In the Shadow of Macedon (339-324 B.C.)
21. The Last Battle (324-322 B.C.)
Chronology
Glossary
Note on Sources
Acknowledgments
Index