Archaeological evidence since the 1980s has led support to the idea that Troy was real and in its heyday in about 1200 B.C.
In the introduction of Barry Strauss' book on the Trojan War, he points to the archaeological evidence supporting Schliemann. Troy was an Anatolian city, not a Greek one, with a language related to Troy's allies' language, Hittite. The Greeks were like Vikings or pirates. The Trojans, horsemen, were like used-car salesmen. Their rise to prominence was based on the geographic location of windy Troy at the entrance of the Dardanelles and its amenities like animal-filled woods, grain, pastures, abundant fresh water, and fish. The Trojan War was fought between Troy and its allies against a coalition of Greeks. There may have been as many as 100,000 men in each army and more than a thousand ships. Strauss sets out to show that much of what we knew is wrong: The war was not decided by a series of duels -- it was more like the war on terror, Troy actually could have withstood the assault -- "the Greeks were underdogs," and the Trojan Horse could have been real -- or at any rate, all it could have taken to win in the end was a trick.
The Trojan War: A New History, summary pages:
Introduction | 1. War for Helen | 2. The Black Ships Sail | 3. Operation Beachhead | 4. Assault on the Walls | 5. The Dirty War | 6. An Army in Trouble | 7. The Killing Fields | 8. Night Moves | 9. Hector's Charge | 10. Achilles Heel | 11. The Night of the Horse | Conclusion
