"A Victor of Salamis" by William Stearns Davis is a historical novel that explores the dramatic period of Xerxes' invasion of ancient Greece, showcasing the lives of people set against monumental clashes like those involving Leonidas and Themistocles. The story most likely focuses on Glaucon, a handsome and strong young man from Athens. He faces struggles in his personal life and in the world around him as Persia prepares to attack. Beginning at the Isthmian Games, the book vividly shows Glaucon competing to earn his father's respect while the public is very excited about the games. Readers meet various characters, from those who admire him to those who want to beat him, and discover bits of political unease that suggest the bigger war to come. The book mixes the thrill of competition with important ideas like loyalty, honor, and the serious risks of both sports and war.
A Victor of Salamis
By William Stearns Davis
Amidst the splendor of ancient games and looming Persian threats, a young athlete strives for glory and his father's love just as his city prepares for war.
Summary
About the AuthorWilliam Stearns Davis was an American educator, historian, and author. He has been cited as one who "contributed to history as a scholarly discipline,. .. [but] was intrigued by the human side of history, which, at the time, was neglected by the discipline." After first experimenting with short stories, he turned while still a college undergraduate to longer forms to relate, from an involved (fictional) character's view, a number of critical turns of history. This faculty for humanizing, even dramatizing, history characterized Davis' later academic and professional writings as well, making them particularly suitable for secondary and higher education during the first half of the twentieth century in a field which, according to one editor, had "lost the freshness and robustness. .. the congeniality" that should mark the study of history. Both Davis' fiction and non-fiction are found in public and academic libraries today.
William Stearns Davis was an American educator, historian, and author. He has been cited as one who "contributed to history as a scholarly discipline,. .. [but] was intrigued by the human side of history, which, at the time, was neglected by the discipline." After first experimenting with short stories, he turned while still a college undergraduate to longer forms to relate, from an involved (fictional) character's view, a number of critical turns of history. This faculty for humanizing, even dramatizing, history characterized Davis' later academic and professional writings as well, making them particularly suitable for secondary and higher education during the first half of the twentieth century in a field which, according to one editor, had "lost the freshness and robustness. .. the congeniality" that should mark the study of history. Both Davis' fiction and non-fiction are found in public and academic libraries today.
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