The battle of Thermopylae, isnt there a book to it?

Question

where the movie 300 came from, isnt it the battle of thermopylae, and what is the book called?
I want to see if they have it at my library so I'm trying to find out what it is.
thanks :)

Answer 1

There's a book called Gates of Fire, by Stephen Pressfield.

It's probably a bit more realistic than 300!

Here it is:

http://www.amazon.com/Gates-Fire-Novel-Battle-Thermopylae/dp/0553580531

Answer 2

Go to the following web site

www.history.com

You will find literally TONS of stuff.

The hisotry channel did and EXCELLENT special on this battle.

Here is a brief example: (all of these have videos you also have tons of articles encyclopedia references text book references etc.)

History in Focus: 300 (2:03)
A behind the scenes look at Frank Miller's 300
Decisive Battles: The Battle of Thermopylae: The Battle Unfolds (2:37)
A historical look at the Battle of Thermopylae and the 300 Spartans which took on Persian Empire
Decisive Battles: Greece: The Battle of Thermopylae (3:53)
A brief look at the Battle of Thermopylae
Last Stand of the 300: The Kill Zone (2:14)
A look at the geography of Thermopylae, where Sparta's 300 and the Persians fought for 3 days


I hope this helps. The movie of course took some liberties, the real story is MUCH more impressive in my opinion. For example the naval elements of the battle are amazing to me. The Greek navy, under Athenian command, did AT LEAST as much damage and the ground element consisting of 300 Spartans and a number of warriors from Ithaca.

Answer 3

The movie was based on the "graphic novel" by Frank Miller also called 300. The battle of Themopylae was a real event and there are many books that cover the real history, including the 1200 Greek soldiers who fought with the 300 Spartans to help hold the Persians.

Answer 4

Any book on the Greco-Persian wars will provide details of this battle, as it is the most famous battle of it's day. If you want a good historical breakdown w/o a trip to the library, chek out Wikipedia.com. It will also list books cited in the articles at the bottom of the page, if you would like to find a book as well.

Answer 5

My copy has been destroyed, so I can't give you the author, but the title is simply "Thermopoly". There must be more too. Check Amazon.