Skip to main contentthe battle of salamis: the naval encounter that saved greece--and western civilization
By Barry Strauss
(Simon & Schuster, 294 pages, $25)
When vastly outnumbered Greeks defeated the Persians at the Battle of Salamis in 480 B.C., it was a military upset rarely equaled in human history. A scrappy, freedom-loving nation had beaten the world's largest superpower.
Barry Strauss demystifies this ancient battle, juggling conflicting ancient sources like Herodotus and Aeschylus with modern speculation to make the Greek victory at Salamis seem not so surprising after all.
The Persian Empire sailed to Greece with more than 1,200 trireme warships, but storms and other disasters whittled their number down to little more than 700 ships before they entered the straits of Salamis. Hence, the Persians' numerical superiority had dwindled from more than 3 to 1 down to less than 2 to 1 by the time the battle started.
Persia's king, Xerxes, had to lead a multinational force of Phoenicians, Ionians, Egyptians, Iranians and turncoat Greeks who all spoke different languages and distrusted each other. Finally, weather and geography were against the Persians: The straits of Salamis were too narrow for the Persians to make the best use of their lighter ships, and the wind was blowing the wrong way. To top it all off, Xerxes was up against one of the wiliest, most recklessly courageous Greeks of all time, Themistocles, who kept the outnumbered Athenians and their allies from beating a hasty retreat, and who also tricked the overconfident Persians into launching a "surprise" naval attack--at night. Strauss traces how Athenian confidence would sadly lead to the ruin of the Peloponnesian War 50 years later. Just as the English who defeated the Spanish Armada would become the British who lost to the Americans who in turn would lose to the Vietnamese, Athenian democracy at home would degenerate into Athenian imperialism abroad. Matt Buckingham
souvenir of canada
By Douglas Coupland
(Douglas & McIntyre, 160 Pages, $18.95)
Souvenir of Canada is a valuable digest of all things Canadien. Generation X author Douglas Coupland is a Canadian local (Vancouver, B.C.) who delivers slices of our northern neighbor with all the dash of heartfelt pride.
Descending alphabetically, the book covers everything from tiny beer bottles lovingly named "stubbies," French cereal boxes (Capitaine Crounche, anyone?) and Canada's strange relationship with the United States. The book is illustrated with dozens of still-life photos that are riddled with Canadian paraphernalia. The pictures are a little baffling to Americans because, at first glance, they seem so typically American, until the exclusively Canadian reality begins seeping through.
Coupland succeeds in pointing out Canada's oddness with personal tidbits but fails in making the reader feel a part of the experience. The book is written as if you're talking to Coupland in a bar about his childhood, and he's the one doing all the talking.
As in his other books, Coupland's tommy-gun cultural commentary can get exhausting at times but all in all makes for a cool experience. Coupland writes, "You just have to accept the fact that Canada is, in some obtusely Star Trek manner, a parallel-universe country." Perhaps you can only really enjoy this book if you understand what it means to truly love your country, quirks and all. This sort of untainted, quiet pride is hard to come by in the good ol' U.S. of A., as Coupland's brand is not dependent on displaying a flag on your house, car or chest. Dana Halverson
WWeek 2015