Kaveh Farrokh provides an in-depth and fascinating look at the historical realities behind the film 300. His review is structured into eight sections, and I quote:

1) The Notion of Democracy and Human Rights
2) What really led to War
3) The Military Conflict: Separating Fact from Fiction
4) The Error of Xerxes: The Burning of Athens
5) The “West” battling against the “Mysticism” of “the East”
6) The Portrayal of Iranians and Greeks
7) A Note on the Iranian Women in Antiquity
8) 'Good' versus “Evil”