We should care about the Spartans, Cartledge argues, because they fought against all the odds to preserve the roots of our own civilisation and were just as much our ancestors as the Athenians. This general history of the Spartans accompanies a recent television series and reflects current, renewed archaeological and historical interest into this race of `warrior-heroes'. Cartledge draws on archaeological and literary evidence to examine the achievements of three generations of Spartans between 480 to 360 BC. He also examines the privileges enjoyed by Spartan women, the peculiarities of Spartan childhood and homelife and the factors that turned them into a feared fighting force. The narrative is interspersed with `snapshot' biographies of particular men and women.