I just finished Holland’s “Persian Fire”, a study of that era where the older temples on the Acropolis were destroyed by the Persian burning of Athens and leading up to just before the building of the Acropolis with the significance highly covered in the last chapter.
For those that are interested, I rate Holland’s book right at the top of those I have read in the last few years. It puts into context the 300, the Xerxes invasion in general and the Spartan / Athenian interplay that later caused them both to loose power after the Peloponnesian War, a period I have read a number of books about in the past.
If you want to understand how the Persian Empire and the Greeks were at odds, came to war and all the whole era was significant, that is a great source.
Thanks for the tip.