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Myke Cole

After a long career in the military, intelligence and law enforcement, Myke Cole now works as a fire and rescue responder in New York’s Hudson Valley. His last book is The Bronze Lie: Shattering the Myth of Spartan Warrior Supremacy. His short work has appeared in the New York Times, Smithsonian magazine, Foreign Policy, the New Republic, the Daily Beast, McSweeney’s and Slate.

Stories from this author

The story of the successful mission, code-named Operation Washing, offers a masterclass in determination and daring worthy of Leonidas.

Millennia After Leonidas Made His Last Stand at Thermopylae, a Ragtag Band of Saboteurs Thwarted the Axis Powers in the Same Narrow Pass

A new book chronicles the 16-plus battles that took place in the Greek pass between the ancient era and World War II

A monument in Thermopylae to King Leonidas.

Sparta Was Much More Than an Army of Super Warriors

Fierce? Yes. Tough? You bet. But the true history of the Greek civilization had a lot more nuance