According to Herodotus, not all three hundred Spartan warriors were killed by Xerxes' soldiers, the king of the Persians, at the Battle of Thermopylae: two of them escaped, bringing a lifesaving message back to the city...

In his book "The Shield of Sparta," Valerio Manfredi presents the story of a family from Sparta forced by an inhumane law to abandon one of their two sons - who was born disabled - to the forces of nature. The first son, Brythos, is a warrior, while the second, Talos, escapes death thanks to a helot shepherd.

The lives of the two brothers are defined by the confrontation between the Persian Empire and the Greek city-states - a monstrous, relentless conflict - until they are united by solidarity in a stunning, unusual act of bravery.

"The Shield of Sparta" is an exciting and captivating adventure.