Thermopylae might be the most famous battlefield in history. Tens of thousands of people have lost their lives fighting over this ground over the millennia, from at least the dawn of the Classical Era all the way up to World War II. But why?
Thermopylae isn’t a regional capital. It isn’t a major nexus of trade. It isn’t an agricultural center or home to a large population. No religious sites of great significance call it home. It’s excellent defensive terrain, sure, but so are many other locations throughout a country known for its mountains, rivers, and jagged coastline.
Thermopylae has nevertheless been a cultural icon and a political symbol for over 2,500 years. But in all that time, no one has ever stopped to ask why? Why is this one tiny, out of the way place worth so much bloodshed?
The Killing Ground: A Biography of Thermopylae will answer this question in thrilling fashion. The book combines the talents of two people uniquely suited to tell this story — both accomplished novelists, historians and essayists. Myke Cole and Dr. Michael Livingston will combine their intense commitment to unimpeachable scholarship with their shared skills in crafting a tense, dramatic, narrative, to finally answer the question of why Thermopylae was so important.
The book will examine the pass’s full history from its ancient origins to its use as a modern battlefield. Cole and Livingston will provide exciting narratives of each of the battles and holding actions that took place in the pass, covering the background and history of each conflict, the personalities and decision making of the commanders, the arms, equipment, and tactics of the troops, and the play-by-play stories of how each battle played out.
As a team they have made multiple visits to Greece, surveying the ground to provide a boots-on understanding of the key moments in the pass. Their command of multiple ancient and medieval languages means they can even provide their own translations of much of the source material, ensuring new insights. Along the way, they will marry the uncompromising scholarship of their multi-faceted explorations to the narrative story-telling that they’ve honed to create a gripping and dramatic historical account. They’ll reveal both why and how Thermopylae is one of the most blood soaked patches of ground in the history of the world — and what its past can tell us about our future.
By:
Myke Cole,
Dr Michael Livingston
Imprint: Osprey
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions:
Height: 234mm,
Width: 153mm,
Spine: 25mm
Weight: 454g
ISBN: 9781472858665
ISBN 10: 1472858662
Pages: 304
Publication Date: 04 June 2024
Audience:
General/trade
,
ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Preface. Introduction. The Killing Ground. Chapter I. The First Battle of Thermopylae. The Thessalians vs. The Phokians | Date Unknown Chapter II. The Second Battle of Thermopylae. The Greek Coalition vs. The Achaemenid Persians | 480 BC Chapter III. Holding Action. The Greek Coalition vs. Macedon | 352 BC Chapter IV. The Third Battle of Thermopylae. The Greek Coalition vs. Macedon | 323 BC Chapter V. The Fourth and Fifth Battles of Thermopylae. The Antigonids vs. The Aetolian League | 317 BC, and The Greek Coalition vs. The Gauls | 279 BC Chapter VI. The Sixth and Seventh Battles of Thermopylae. The Antigonids vs. The Aetolian League | 207 BC, and The Romans vs. The Seleucids | 191 BC Chapter VII. The Eighth Battle of Thermopylae. The Romans vs. The Goths | AD 253 Chapter VIII. The Ninth Battle of Thermopylae. The Byzantines vs. The Huns | 447 Chapter IX. The Tenth Battle of Thermopylae. The Byzantines vs. The Getae | 517 Chapter X. The Eleventh, Twelfth, Thirteenth, and Fourteenth Battles of Thermopylae. The Byzantine-Bulgar Wars | 540, 549, 559, and 997 Chapter XI. The Fifteenth Battle of Thermopylae. The Wehrmacht vs. The ANZACs | 1942 Chapter XII. Battles for Thermopylae. The Battle of Alamana | The Greeks vs. The Ottomans | 1821, and The Battle of Gorgopotamos | British Special Operations and the Greek Resistance vs. The Wehrmacht | 1942 Chapter XIII. The Killing Ground | Why Here? The authors present their conclusions and give their best answer for why this one tiny patch of ground, seemingly in the middle of nowhere, was the site of so much bloodshed over so many years.
Myke Cole has had a colourful and varied career, with service in war and crisis response. He has held positions with the Defense Intelligence Agency and the Office of Naval Intelligence. He commanded the reserve at US Coast Guard Station New York, where he was responsible for maritime law enforcement and search-and-rescue operations around the island of Manhattan. He currently works as a security and intelligence consultant in the private sector. He lives in New Orleans. He has published extensively in military history and is also a popular fantasy and science fiction novelist with several major imprints. Myke also appeared on CBS' hit TV show Hunted, where he joined a team of elite investigators pursuing fugitives across the southeastern United States. Dr Michael Livingston teaches the military and cultural history of the Middle Ages at The Citadel, the Military College of South Carolina. He co-authored the textbook reader Medieval Warfare. In 2021 he published Never Greater Slaughter: Brunanburh and the Birth of England (Osprey) to critical acclaim.
Reviews for The Killing Ground: A Biography of Thermopylae
Highly recommended. * Adrian Goldsworthy * A timely look at the history of war, geography, and myth-making, told through the fascinating story of one of the world’s most recurrent battlefields. * Douglas Boin * A survey spanning millennia of a pass that, as the authors have brilliantly demonstrated, is as well fitted to host battles as any corner of the globe. * Tom Holland * In The Killing Ground Myke Cole and Michael Livingstone combine their proven talents as military historians to examine why the long, narrow stretch of land called Thermopylae in Greece was the site of twenty-seven battles that occurred there over 2,500 years. Their myth busting account of the legendary battle of 480 BC is a tour de force! * Lindsay Powell, author of 'Augustus at War: The Struggle for the Pax Augusta' * The ancient Spartans really were one of a kind. As was - and is – the battleground (intellectual as well as topographical) of Thermopylae – as Cole and Livingston have so valiantly demonstrated. * History Today *
