The Trojan War - Tapa dura

"Barry Strauss boldly treats the Trojan War not as mythology or poetry but as history. To the epics of Homer and other Greek sources he adds a broad knowledge of the Bronze Age, of its physical remains and of written evidence from the Hittite and Egyptian archives ... An exciting tale written in a lively style that brings Homer's heroes and the world in which they lived to vibrant and colourful life" (Donald Kagan, Sterling Professor of Classics and History, Yale University)

"A military epic of the first order, weaving together fact and fiction in a beguiling tapestry of blood, guts, gore - and terrible feminine beauty" (Paul Cartledge, professor of Greek History, Cambridge University)

"This is as good an account as we are likely to get of one of the most famous wars in history. A must-read for anyone interested in war, history, or ancient times" (Max Boot, senior fellow in national security studies, The Council on Foreign Relations)

"Strauss's brilliant interweaving of the mythic and the modern archaeological records makes for exhilarating [...] reading" (The Scotsman)

"Consumed in one of those burning-the-midnight-oil situations... I really enjoyed it" (Michael Wood)

Based on the latest archaeological research and written by a leading expert on ancient military history, the true story of the most famous battle in history is every bit as compelling as Homer's epic account - and confirms many of its details.

The Iliad and The Odyssey are cornerstones of Western literature. But did the war they describe really happen? Spectacular new archaeological evidence suggests that it did. Recent excavations and newly translated Hittie texts reveal that Troy was a large, wealthy city allied with the Hittie Empire. Located at the strategic entrance to the Dardanelles, the link between the Aegean and Black Sea, it was a tempting target for marauding Greeks, the Vikings of the Bronze Age. The war may have been the inevitable consequence of expanding Greek maritime commerce.

Troy was destroyed by fire between 1200 and 1180 B.C.; large piles of sling stones, arrowheads and spearheads (not to mention skeletons that had been hacked by swords) suggest that it had prepared for a siege, but may have suffered a sudden conquest. At the end, some ploy - which has come down to us as the Trojan horse, and may have been just that - allowed the Greeks to breach its walls. In The Trojan War, master storyteller Barry Strauss puts legend into its historical context - without losing it poetry and grandeur.