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The Gates of Athens

Book One in the Athenian series

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The Gates of Athens

By: Conn Iggulden
Narrated by: George Blagden
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Brought to you by Penguin.

Devour the latest epic tale of ancient Greece and Sunday Times top 5 bestseller from the author of War of the Roses.

On the plains of Marathon an army of slaves gathers . . .

Under Darius the Great, King of Kings, the mighty Persian army - swollen by 10,000 Immortal warriors - have come to subjugate the Greeks.

In their path stands an army of freeborn Athenians, and among them is fearsome and cunning soldier-statesman, Xanthippus.

Knowing defeat means slavery lends keenness to his already sharp blade . . .

Yet people soon forget that freedom is bought with blood.

Ten years later, Xanthippus watches helplessly as Athens succumbs to the bitter politics of factionalism, when the Persians cross the Hellespont in ever greater numbers to raze Athens to the ground.

Facing overwhelming forces by land and sea, the Athenians call on their Spartan allies for assistance - to delay the Persians at the treacherous pass of Thermopylae . . .

© Conn Iggulden 2020 (P) Penguin Audio 2020

 Action & Adventure Ancient Europe Fiction Genre Fiction Greece Historical Fiction Science Fiction War & Military War Ancient History Ancient Greece Royalty
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Critic reviews

Thrilling retelling . . . It's a brilliant read, and his description of the Battle of Thermopylae is simply a stunning - and inspiring - piece of writing
Praise for Conn Iggulden (:)
An absolutely cracking story. The pace is nail-biting and the set dressing magnificent (-)
Absorbing and bloody (Antonia Senior)
Peopled with characters so finely honed the story becomes a gripping and glorious legend. Brilliant! (-)
Breathes new life into the darkest and most dramatic of times (-)
All stars
Most relevant
The narrator is great but the quoted dialogue is much, much louder than the rest of the book for some reason. Makes it very hard to set a comfortable volume.

Just needs sound engineering

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i like historical "faction" so this appealed. Suited me and good to listen on the treadmill.

Good read / listen

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Loved it. Conn Iggulden at his very best. Great historical fiction as per usual

Exceptional

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Another amazing book by Conn Iggulden. Steeped in history with just the right changes to tell the story. The type of audio book that makes you want to keep hitting play!

Only minor gripe would be the voice acting by the narrator. The accents/voices don’t change very much, if at all with some characters. Sometimes it was jarring when listen to large conversation sections.

Conn can’t do wrong!

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Once again a brilliant book with fact and appropriate timeline shifts. This is 10th book I’ve read of his and leads me onto his next

Brilliant alignment

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