Alexander the Great: His Armies and Campaigns 334-323 BC (Special Editions (Military)) [Paperback]

Nicholas Sekunda (Author)

Book Description

Series: Special Editions (Military) | Publication Date: April 15, 1998

Upon the assassination of his father King Philip II in the summer of 336 BC - while making plans for an invasion of Persia - Alexander took over the reigns of power of a now united Greece. When he led his combined Macedonian and Greek army into Asia a year later he began the greatest career of military conquest in world history. In eleven short years he overcame the might of the Persian Empire and campaigned across the face of the known world. In this combination of two of Osprey's most successful titles, Men-at-Arms 148 The Army of Alexander the Great and Campaign 7 Alexander 334-323 BC: Conquest of the Persian Empire, two eminent scholars of the Classical world - Nick Sekunda and John Warry - describe in detail the make up of Alexander's army, and the course of his epic campaigns.

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About the Author

Nick Sekunda has published numerous articles and books on Hellenistic warfare and is a recognised expert on the Macedonian army in particular. John Warry has had a life-long interest in the Greek world and is a respected author on this subject. His contribution to this book is the product of more than five years solid research.

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Osprey Publishing (April 15, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1855327929
• ISBN-13: 978-1855327924
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 7.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,938,956 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Overview of Alexander's Army and Military Tactics, April 30, 2007

By 

Virtuoso Fan (Murrieta, CA USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Alexander the Great (General Military) (Paperback)

There are several great books about Alexander that focus on his astonishing military career but they tend to be scholarly and difficult for the Alexander novice to take in. If you want to get a general overview with lots of illustrations, maps, and photos, then this is the book for you. Alexander the Great has been and remains a lot of different things to different people, but one thing that the great majority can agree on is that he was one amazing general and military commander.

This book focuses on Alexander's army and how it was developed under his father - King Philip II, the weaponry used by the Macedonian army, the campaigns of Alexander in Asia, and a fairly detailed analysis of all the major battles and sieges with colorful maps and illustrations. Seminal titles from military historians like J.F.C. Fuller, Theodore A. Dodge, and Peter G. Tsouras go more in-depth in their analysis of Alexander's military strategies and tactics but they require a lot of imagination and involvement on the readers' part to visualize what happened.

The detailed maps give you a good idea of the scope of the battles and the extent of Alexander's amazing campaigns through Asia. When you consider that the army formations at the front line often stretched well over a mile you get an idea of how massive these battles were. It's really hard to envision leading an army without radio communications into a field that would cover several square miles and the chaos ensuing within, but that's exactly what these battles were like. What is truly amazing is that no one in the history of warfare quite had the spectacular success that Alexander had.

Even with all this information from books such as these, it's hard to pinpoint what made Alexander so successful when so many others have failed miserably or barely made out of battles alive. Alexander not only won these battles against much larger opponents, but he won decisively in routs in which the enemies suffered over 10 times the casualties that Alexander's armies suffered. You look at the battle results and simply go, "Wow! But how?!?" This book gives you a starting point towards understanding Alexander as an unparalleled military commander. If you want an easy-to-read and easy-to-understand book about Alexander's military achievements, this is definitely the book to get you started.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good overview of Alexander's army, November 27, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Alexander the Great: His Armies and Campaigns 334-323 BC (Special Editions (Military)) (Paperback)

This is a good reference guide to one who wants to know more about Alexander the Great's army. The book is efficient in illustrations and text about the daily life of being in his army. Though i wouldn't recommend this as the definitive book of Alexander's army, it is a good stepping stone to read and search for a more complete book that could fill in the blanks left buy reading this.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Book Review, November 9, 2004

By 

Field Manley - See all my reviews

This review is from: Alexander the Great: His Armies and Campaigns 334-323 BC (Special Editions (Military)) (Paperback)

"This book does not attempt a comprehensive treatment, it is offered as an introduction to Alexander's army" (Sekunda and Warry 7). Nick Sekunda and John Warry have written a very readable and informative book about Alexander The Great's military conquests. This book goes into great detail about Alexander's army, his commanders, the battles, and the aftermaths of the battles. The authors introduce the book in a very creative way by reporting about King Phillip's army and everything he established before Alexander took over the throne.
" This book examines the structure and organization of Alexander's world-beating army, and traces the course of his epic campaigns" (145). The book is efficient in illustrations and text about the daily life of being in his army. It also has involved depictions of his battles. The authors breakdown the elements of the battles starting with Alexander's opening moves, what happens during each of the battles, and also what follows each of the battles.
I see this book as biased for Alexander because the authors do not mention anything about Alexander having a [...] affair with one of his generals which is something I have read elsewhere. Leaving that out, in my opinion, is a good thing because this is a book about Alexander's military conquests not his romance life. The organization of this book is wonderfully crafted. The evidence seems to be supported throughout the book. The author also concludes the book properly. The book stayed very true to its purpose.
The book had few imperfections from what I interpreted. One of them being that it is to some extent verbose. It is also hard to keep track of the many different generals and kings listed in the book partially because their names are difficult to pronounce and because there are so many but I would have to consider myself reaching for a reason rather than it being abundantly clear. I give these authors a great deal of credit for all of the information they have provided in this book.
I have yet to read any other works about Alexander but after reading this I will be more apt do so. I would definitely recommend this book to others but with the ever changing technology and things available on the Internet, both good and bad, no book can keep up.