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Spartan
Spartan
Spartan
Ebook425 pages5 hours

Spartan

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

3.5/5

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Herodotus tells us that not all of the three hundred Spartan warriors died at the hands of Xerxes, King of the Persians, in the battle of the Thermopylae: two were saved bringing a life-saving message back to the city . . .

Valerio Massimo Manfredi's Spartan is the saga of a Spartan family, torn apart by a cruel law that forces them to abandon one of their two sons – born lame – to the elements. The elder son, Brithos, is raised in the caste of the warriors, while the other, Talos, is spared a cruel death and is raised by a Helot shepherd, among the peasants.

They live out their story in a world dominated by the clash between the Persian empire and the city-states of Greece – a ferocious, relentless conflict – until the voice of their blood and of human solidarity unites them in a thrilling, singular enterprise.

LanguageEnglish
PublisherPan Macmillan
Release dateSep 23, 2011
ISBN9781447211334
Author

Valerio Massimo Manfredi

Valerio Massimo Manfredi is an archaeologist and scholar of the ancient Greek and Roman world. He is the author of numerous novels, which have won him literary awards and have sold 12 million copies. His Alexander trilogy has been translated into thirty-eight languages and published in sixty-two countries and the film rights have been acquired by Universal Pictures. His novel The Last Legion was made into a film starring Colin Firth and Ben Kingsley and directed by Doug Lefler. Valerio Massimo Manfredi has taught at a number of prestigious universities in Italy and abroad and has published numerous articles and essays in academic journals. He has also written screenplays for film and television, contributed to journalistic articles and conducted cultural programmes and television documentaries.

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Reviews for Spartan

Rating: 3.547244094488189 out of 5 stars
3.5/5

127 ratings2 reviews

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  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    I managed to get about two-thirds through this novel before giving up and deciding it really wasn’t worth my time. The story appeared to be badly translated, stilted (“this people…”) and a bit boring for tales purported to be centered around a warrior aristocracy and their fief-like subordinates. I had heard that Manfredi’s novels were good and action packed, I hope Spartan suffers from bad translation and is not indicative of his other work. This is turning out to be a bad month for reading novels.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    It is fairly good. The Alexander trilogy was more entertaining.

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Spartan - Valerio Massimo Manfredi

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