14 h 3 minAudiobook6 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.
Who will love it
You will enjoy it if you love ancient Greece, vivid battle scenes, grand loyalties and a hero racing against time. Readers of adventure, romance and history in one story will find all three here.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A Champion Wins the Isthmian Crown
- A Secret Pledge Opens the Door to Persia
- Themistocles Turns a Dark Oracle into a Fleet
- The Forged Letter Destroys Glaucon at Colonus
- Shipwreck Throws Glaucon Among the Persians
- Thermopylae Calls an Outcast Back to Himself
- Themistocles Faces Divided Allies
- Hermione Holds to Hope
- Loyalty, Honor and the Cost of Fear
Who’s who
- GlauconA beautiful Athenian athlete and winner of the pentathlon, who loves his wife Hermione and trusts his friends completely.
- HermioneGlaucon's wife, daughter of Hermippus of Eleusis, who stays loyal to her husband when everyone else turns against him.
- DemocratesA gifted orator and Glaucon's closest friend, whose debts and secret love for Hermione draw him into betrayal.
- ThemistoclesThe Athenian statesman and admiral who plans the fleet and fights to unite quarrelsome Greek allies against Persia.
- MardoniusA Persian prince and general who spies in Athens, and whose life Glaucon later saves.
- PhormioAn Athenian fishmonger with a sharp-tongued wife, who risks everything to help a man he believes innocent.
- LyconA huge Spartan athlete and schemer who favors Persia and blackmails Democrates.
- LeonidasThe blunt king of Sparta who holds the pass at Thermopylae with three hundred men.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet, computer or Kindle, with the type as large as you like.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 14 h 3 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 6 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
eBooks and audiobooks open right away. Download EPUB or PDF, or send the book to your Kindle. Every printed copy is made when you order it and shipped worldwide; shipping is shown at checkout.
How it works
- Start free. Nothing to pay today; the eBook of this book is yours to keep.
- Read, listen and print. 200,000+ classics as eBook, large-print eBook, audiobook and 15-minute summary, and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print, 5 accounts for the price of one.
- We remind you first. Free for 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment. Then USD 0.14 a day in your first year on the yearly plan and USD 0.27 a day after, or USD 0.66 a day on the monthly plan. Cancel online in two clicks.
Bought on its own? Every eBook, audiobook and printed book you buy without the plan carries our 30-day money-back guarantee.
25 languages, side by side
Read and hear A Victor of Salamis in 25 languages and switch at any time. Or read two side by side, paragraph by paragraph: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
A Victor of Salamis
by William Stearns Davis · 1907
A golden athlete wins glory at the games, then loses his name, his wife and his country to a friend's lie.
Medium level10–20 hours to read25 languages
Excellent
- Read or listen
- 25 languages, side by side
- Print and large print at cost
- 5 accounts for the price of one
Free for 3 months · starts right away, on any device
Read free3 months free · cancel anytimeFree for 3 months, then USD 0.14 a dayCancel anytimeHow it works
In short
How far would you go to prove you are innocent when every friend believes you guilty? A Victor of Salamis, by William Stearns Davis, follows Glaucon, the most beautiful athlete in Athens, from a pentathlon crown at the Isthmian Games into the Persian invasion of Greece.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A Champion Wins the Isthmian Crown
The story opens at the Isthmian Games near Corinth, where all Greece talks about Glaucon, son of Conon. He is handsome, modest and newly married to Hermione of Eleusis, and his father will forgive him only if he wins the pentathlon.
The old poet Simonides bets two minae on him and meets Cimon, son of Miltiades, and the orator Democrates. Glaucon then rescues a foreign boy from a mob of Spartans. Themistocles and King Leonidas see the fight and the king tests his grip. At the contest Glaucon faces the Spartan giant Lycon, who tries to win by butting him bloody, but Glaucon takes the crown.
Free for 3 months · Cancel anytime
Free gifts
USD 580 in free gifts when you start
Every book in every format and in 25 languages, 5 accounts for the price of one. Nothing to pay today.
- 200,000+ classic eBooksIn 25 languages, side by side
USD 170FREE - Every audiobookIn 25 languages, any device
USD 120FREE - 15-minute summariesRead or listen, in 25 languages
USD 60FREE - Print at cost, no markupPaperback, hardcover, large print
USD 60FREE - 5 accounts for the price of oneA shelf for everyone at home
USD 170FREE - A part in rebuilding the libraryNew languages and books for all
FREE
Questions about A Victor of Salamis
Can I read it free?
Yes. The first key idea of the 15-minute summary is free with no sign-up. Start free and the whole book is yours for 3 months, with the eBook to keep, plus 200,000+ more classics and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print. Nothing to pay today: we email you 7 days before your first payment, and you can cancel online in two clicks.
Can I buy the printed book?
Soon. The paperback, hardcover and large print editions are being prepared. Choose Paperback or Hardcover above, leave your email, and we tell you the day you can order it, printed at cost.
How many accounts do I get?
Five, for the price of one: you and 4 more people, each with their own login, shelf and their own place in every book.
Can I cancel anytime?
Yes. Cancel online in two clicks at any time and nothing more is charged. Nothing is charged in your first 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment.
What is A Victor of Salamis about?
It follows Glaucon, an Athenian athlete who is falsely branded a traitor, through the Persian invasion of Greece. It runs from the Isthmian Games through Thermopylae, Salamis and Plataea.
Is A Victor of Salamis a true story?
It is historical fiction. Real figures such as Themistocles, Leonidas, Xerxes and Mardonius appear and real battles are told, within a fictional adventure.
Who is Democrates in the novel?
Democrates is an Athenian orator and Glaucon's best friend. Money troubles and a secret love for Hermione lead him to work for the Persians.
The author
William Stearns Davis
1877–1930 · American historian and novelist
American writer and historian.
More like this
Our mission
The library burned once. We are building it back.
Every great book, in every language and every format, for every family. Every plan helps pay for new languages, new audiobooks and books for readers who have never had them. Join the movement.
Read our story- Every language25 languages today, side by side, and more every year
- No wastePrinted on demand: no warehouses, no unsold stock, no pulped copies
- For everyonePaperback, hardcover and large print at the cost of printing
