63 of 64 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Military Classic that's also a good adventure story, December 14, 2001
This review is from: Anabasis (Loeb Classical Library) (English and Greek Edition) (Hardcover)
Xenophon wrote several books that survive: "A History of My Times" and "Cavalry Tactics" to name two, but the one he's most famous for, and arguably the best read is "Anabasis". A detailed accounting of moving 10,000 troops through hostile country, ulimately extracting them back to Greece. The fact that this is a "Classic" shouldn't put off any readers who've plodded through ancient literature. Xenophon wrote in an informal style, with much detail about the areas and peoples he encountered. It's almost as much travel story as a study in military leadership; but it IS ultimately a recounting of leadership under the most deadly conditions.
There are some timeless lessons here for military and civilian leaders. Xenophon fully explains his decisions (when he can), and ALWAYS asks for advice from other generals. This was critically important in an army of mercenaries whose loyalty was to themselves. Getting other leaders to "buy into" his decisions gave them a sense of empowerment (to use TQM jargon) and a stake in the outcome. He tries to be fair and cares for his troops-though he doesn't hesitate to risk lives if the mission calls for it. In battle he uses what might be termed asymmetric warfare: always pitting Greek strengths against enemy weaknesses; avoiding fighting the way his enemy fights best.
This is a great memoir of an amazing feat of arms and personal leadership. Highly recommended.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
47 of 48 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Victorious Retreat, November 30, 2000
This review is from: Anabasis (Loeb Classical Library) (English and Greek Edition) (Hardcover)
Between the fall of the Athenian Empire and the rise of Alexander, many Greeks sought adventure and fortune as mercenaries. Cyrus of Persia attempted to usurp the throne with an army stiffened by 10,000 Greek mercenaries. The author found himself among that number. Cyrus went down to defeat and death at the Battle of Cunaxa, but one contingent of his army emerged victorious--The Ten Thousand. Alone and unsponsored, surrounded by enemies, and deep in the heart of Persia, The Ten Thousand began their fighting retreat to the sea and freedom. Along the way they met with battle, treachery, hardship, and death. Xenophon became one of their leaders, and eventually lived to write this stirring account of their exploits. The successful retreat of the Ten Thousand served as proof to Phillip of Macedon that a Greek army could conquer Persia, and he made his preparations for the invasion. Phillip's death forestalled his plans, but Alexander took up his father's project and the rest, as they say, is history. If there had been no Westward march by the Ten Thousand, there may have been no Eastward march by Alexander.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
38 of 38 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Retreating in style: A classic by a very fine writer, May 29, 2001
This review is from: Anabasis (Loeb Classical Library) (English and Greek Edition) (Hardcover)
Xenophon's Anabasis is a classic tale of adventure, and a model of precise style on par with the more familiar works of Roman authors like Julius Caesar (De bello gallico) and Tacitus (Germania). Like Caesar, he uses simple, straightforward language, and the language reflects the character of the man who helped lead 10,000 Greek mercenaries through hostile territory: a man of clear values, determination, ambition, and a strong sense of honor. With Tacitus he shares an interest in odd details and in strange customs of foreign people: "a four days' march of sixty miles took him to the river Chalus, which was a hundred feet in breadth and full of large tame fish which the Syrians regarded as gods and would not allow anyone to harm them. (They think the same way about pigeons.)".
Xenophon's story has an immediacy and clarity that is truly amazing given the fact that he wrote it down 30 years after the events took place, and that we read it today, almost 2,400 years later. The Italian writer Italo Calvino captured the vivid yet factual tone of the Anabasis very nicely when he remarked that reading the book today "is the nearest thing to watching an old war documentary which is repeated every so often on television or on video." (Calvino's essay can be found in his collection of essays "Why Read the Classics?") Although the story is a never-ending succession of visual details and action, it is never boring. Xenophon writes succinctly, sprinkles small anecdotes, portraits of soldiers, speeches, and interesting details over the text, and peppers the story with exotic details.
Certain passages of the Anabasis reminded me of Hemingway's "A Moveable Feast". Especially in the way both authors employ visual images and celebrate the qualities of food. Hemingway enjoys "the oysters with their strong taste of the sea and their faint metallic taste that the cold white wine washed away, leaving only the sea taste and the succulent texture"; Xenophon reminisces that "going forward, then, they arrived at the villages where the guides told them they could get supplies. There was plenty of corn there and date wine, and a sour drink made form boiled dates. As for the dates themselves, the sort which one sees in Greece were set aside for the servants, while the ones reserved for the masters were choice fruit, wonderfully big and good looking. Their colour was just like amber, and they used to dry some of them and keep them as sweets." The big difference, however, is that the aging Hemingway recreated the joy of his best years in Paris whereas the old Xenophon wrote an account of the most challenging weeks of his life.
Xenophon is not only a very fine writer, he is also a man whose writing reveals his ethics. As it befits the writer who does not want to hit his readers on the head with a sermon, his morality is implicit in the style in which he writes, and in the tone of his story. Xenophon is not a sufferer, nor is he a stoic. He is an officer, a professional soldier. Xenophon's morality is that of a man of action who decides on right and wrong by looking at what he needs to do in order to master a given situation: "what we have to do is to surmount our difficulties like brave men, not to give in, but to try, if we can, to win honour and safety by victory." Italo Calvino sensed in this attitude a precursor to the modern ethic of perfect technical efficiency, but in my opinion, Xenophon's ethics are more informed by a sense of commitment to the men he commands and the gods he respects. Xenophon strives to do his job well in order to generate discipline, solidarity and trust among his men, which is necessary not only for surviving the hardships of the journey but also for keeping one's dignity. He knows the psyche of his soldiers ("when people are not trusted, their words, I notice, merely drift about without force in themselves and without inspiring confidence in others") and he knows how to motivate them ("there will be a great rise in their spirits if one can change the way they think, so that instead of having in their heads the one idea of 'what is going to happen to me?' they may think 'what action am I going to take?'").
Even if one can not enjoy Xenophon's qualities as a storyteller, or if one does not agree with his ethics, the Anabasis is still a fine example of how literature can give style and sense to a military debacle and a desperate adventure which, being a retreat after a defeat, is not honorable or heroic in itself....
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
