History of Xerxes the Great

An interesting history, which I read in about an hour and twenty minutes. Since it was written in 1850 and I know there have been numerous archaeological finds concerning Persian history since then, coupled with the lack of a bibliography, I wonder if it's 100% accurate, but I found it an interesting read despite that question. I'm participating in an ABC challenge with a group here, and searched Project Gutenburg for a good option for an X title.

The history reads almost like a novel, with handy side-notes for reference to each event. The Gutenburg version includes a few images from the original, including a map in the front. The story mainly concerns Xerxes' invasion of Greece and burning of Athens, which was the high and low point of his career. Abbott, the author, throws in some moralizing about the futility and wrongfulness of war for the sake of conquest, which I entirely agreed with. He highlighted how the war wrecked the population and productivity of the lands Xerxes took his army through, as well as how it backfired into the prosperity of his own Median country.