Lords of the Sea

The Epic Story of the Athenian Navy and the Birth of Democracy

De: John R. Hale

Narrado por: David Drummond

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 B.C.E. launched the Athenian Golden Age and preserved Greek freedom and culture for centuries.

With Lords of the Sea, renowned archaeologist and historian John R. 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, their turbulent careers, and their far-flung expeditions and brings back to life a forgotten maritime empire and its majestic legacy.

©2009 John R. Hale (P)2009 Tantor

Reseñas de la Crítica

"A well-written, stirring chronicle." ( Booklist)

A history that that transports you there

One of the best books on the history of classic Greece I have listened to as an audio, so much so that I have purchased the paperback. This rounds off all other history lessons about Sparta Alexander the Great and so much more...it is so well written and narrated every time I listened I was there rowing or standing on a hill overlooking the straights of Salamis witnessing the historical battle that marked the birth of the Greek navy

Excellent and well spoken history -

Very well written, holds ones interest. Well narrated, and made for many an enjoyable afternoon in lockdown.

Great overview of Greek History

Really like this author and his perspective. Using the Navy as the lens that we look at Ancient Greece. Aristotle, Alexander the Great, Spartans, etc. it’s all here and puts in it great perspective.

Thorough and Accessible

As the earlier reviewer noted, this is a very good historical narrative.

The subtitle, however, overstates the argument made on behalf of Athenian democracy. The Athenians had already overthrown their tyrant, and it was a representative government that decided to establish the navy. Therefore, the navy did not give birth to democracy.

Hale does, however, make a compelling argument for the navy strengthening and sustaining the democracy and, perhaps even more telling, being feared as such by rival cities and empires. The symbiosis between the Athenian navy and the Athenian democracy was therefore special, and we cannot, and Hale does not, try to draw more universal connections between navies and democracies.

Hale also explains how the navy, and the riches it allowed to flow from both trade and empire, made possible the golden age of Athenian drama, rhetoric, architecture and philosophy.

A must read for any one who likes Greek history.

This book has perhaps become one of my favorite books on the subject of Greek history. It is written in a way that people who do not like history books would like this, he weaves the history in story so that you do not become bored with the dates/places/people.
David Drummond does and excellent job reading