Three battles changed the course of European history forever, rescuing democracy for future generations to come. This is the story of Marathon, Thermopylae and Salamis.

More than 2,500 years since the Persian King Xerxes was defeated following his invasion of Greece, these ancient battles still have resonances in modern history and have left us with tales of heroic resistance in the face of seemingly hopeless odds.

In Three Epic Battles That Saved Democracy, Dr Stephen Kershaw focuses on both sides of three historic battles - Marathon, Thermopylae and Salamis - between the Greeks, led by democratic Athens and militaristic Sparta, and the Persian Empire ruled by powerful kings, without which the history of Europe and the West would have been radically different. Through trials, victories, invasions, power, greed, revenge and rebellion, these battles rocked Greece to its core and threatened the future of democracy itself.

In this enthralling and timely retelling, Kershaw draws on modern archaeological and geological discoveries to bring new light to the stories of these Greco-Persian wars, famously told by the Father of History, Herodotus, to show that these decisive battles marked the beginning of Western civilization itself.