Book description
In the 6th century AD, the Near East was divided between two venerable
empires: the Persian and the Roman. A hundred years on, and one had
vanished forever, while the other seemed almost finished. Ruling in
their place were the Arabs: an upheaval so profound that it spelt, in
effect, the end of the ancient world. In
The Shadow of the Sword
, Tom Holland explores how this came about. Spanning Constantinople to
the Arabian desert, and starring some of the most remarkable rulers who
ever lived, he tells a story vivid with drama, horror and startling
achievement. Historian Tom Holland has adapted Homer, Herodotus,
Thucydides and Virgil for BBC Radio. Rubicon
was shortlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize and won the Hessell-Tiltman
Prize for History 2004, and Persian Fire
won the Anglo-Hellenic League's Runciman Award 2006.
