Xenophon's Retreat: Greece, Persia and the end of the Golden Age by Robin Waterfield
It is 401 BC. After an epic battle in Persia, Xenophon is elected general of the defeated Greek army and must lead the men on a fraught journey back home - a journey of hundreds of miles, north from modern-day Iraq into the mountains of Kurdistan and Armenia, and down to the coast of the Black Sea, fighting all the way, harried on all sides by Persian forces, wild mountain tribesmen, and a bitter winter... A gripping adventure full of drama, human interest, strong characters, pathos, and triumph.