14 h 3 minAudiobook5 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What holds a divided people together when a vast army and fleet threaten everything they know?
In A Victor of Salamis, William Stearns Davis brings the Persian Wars close through a young Greek whose private hopes collide with public danger. King Xerxes advances against a scatter of proud, independent cities. Each has its own laws, gods and army. Standing together means overcoming rivalries that run deep.
The young hero moves from ordinary city life toward camps, councils and ships, where loyalty becomes harder to judge. Themistocles urges Athens to trust its fleet and works to unite the Greeks at sea. Leonidas leads a small force at a narrow pass. Against Persia’s strength, fear and pride threaten the unity Greece needs.
What you’ll discover
- A life caught in war Follow a young Greek as a vast conflict tests his private loyalties and hopes.
- Cities with clashing loyalties Enter a Greece where fierce independence makes common purpose both urgent and difficult.
- Themistocles and the fleet Meet the restless Athenian statesman who sees his city’s future in its ships.
- Honour under pressure Explore the pull of glory and the wish to stand firm when others yield.
- History with human stakes Experience real wars and leaders through a story shaped by loyalty, doubt and betrayal.
Is it for you?
This book suits readers who like historical adventure, ancient Greece, or stories built around real wars and real leaders. It may be less suited to anyone who wants a fast modern thriller or a light read with little history in it.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A divided Greece faces a giant
- A young Greek is drawn into the war
- Real leaders shape the struggle
- Glory and betrayal as the book's themes
Who’s who
- ThemistoclesThe Athenian statesman who believes his city's future lies in its fleet and who works to unite the Greeks at sea.
- XerxesThe Persian king who leads a vast army and fleet against Greece, sure that no force can stop him.
- LeonidasThe Spartan king who leads a small Greek force to hold a narrow pass against the Persian advance.
- The young Greek heroA young man whose private loyalties and hopes are tested as the war draws him in among the great leaders.
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- Large print paperback
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- Large print hardcover
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A Victor of Salamis
by William Stearns Davis· 1907
Rival Greek cities face a Persian invasion together.
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Language: English
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1 of 4
A divided Greece faces a giant
The story opens in a Greece that is not a country at all. It is a scatter of independent cities, each proud of its own laws, its own gods and its own army. Athens, Sparta, Corinth and many smaller places often fought one another more readily than they fought outsiders. Davis uses this setting to show how unlikely any common defence was.
Against them stands the Persian empire, which reached from the shores of the Aegean deep into Asia. Its king, Xerxes, can call on soldiers from dozens of peoples and on fleets built by his subject cities. Greeks had already met Persian power once, a few years before, and the memory of that earlier invasion hangs over the cities. Some leaders think resistance is the only honourable course. Others think it is a road to ruin and would rather make terms.
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The author
William Stearns Davis
1877–1930 · American historian and novelist
American writer and historian.
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What is A Victor of Salamis about?
It is a historical novel about the Persian invasion of Greece. A young Greek is drawn into the war and meets real leaders, as the divided Greek cities try to resist the empire of King Xerxes.
Is A Victor of Salamis a true story?
The war, the battles and many of the leaders are real, and Davis draws on the ancient historian Herodotus. The central hero and his personal story are invented, as in most historical novels.
When was A Victor of Salamis written?
William Stearns Davis published it in 1907. He was a history professor, and he wrote it as an adventure novel that also teaches readers about the Persian Wars.
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