Persian Fire: The First World Empire, Battle for the West

The ideal book for getting into the Persian Wars before going to Greece - I just wish I had the time to read it more thoroughly... I don't think this book is as well written as Rubicon, which I thoroughly enjoyed. However, this is a first rate, and entertaining, narrative history and has some good background information on the origins of the Persian Empire, which is refreshing, although I have found the style of the Persian chapters somewhat flowery (probably due to the lack of original sources), which I felt increased my sense of alienation from the Persians as a culture. Our perception of the Persians is already heavily influenced by the propaganda of the Greek city states e.g. barbarians, etc. Nevertheless it does give a sense of the Persian mindset from the King of Kings throne and Tom Holland captures the drama of this period and makes it come alive. A historian couldn't ask to do more really...