Customer Reviews

Ancient Armies of the Middle East (Men-at-Arms)

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Covering 2500 years and a fair chunk of real estate in 40 pages, this volume of the normally quite nice Osprey Military books is only recomendable for the Angus McBride art. It concentrates on the better known states, when the limited size would have done well for a study some of the lesser known states and left the Egyptians, Hittites, Assyrians and such for their own volumes. However, it does have a nice integrated timeline, and the aforementioned wonderful Angus McBride art.

Wholeheartedly agree with the previous review. Too ambitious to catalog so many culturally different peoples over so long a period of time. Would've been better to concentrate on one or two at the most. However, the fabulous artwork is worth the small sum of the book's price.

I agree with previous reviewers that this title very much bit into more than it could chew, and that some of these peoples (Israelites, Hittites, Sea Peoples) could almost deserve their own titles. Has a useful timeline, usual nice plates, and briefly covers the following peoples:
The Sumerians
The Akkadians
The Babylonians
The Elamites
The Egyptians (now have their own elite title)
The Libyans
The Nubians and Ethiopians
The Hyksos
The Hittites
The Sea Peoples
The Arabs (including the Amalekites and Midianites of the Old Testament)
The Aramaeans
The Israelites (all the Tribes of Israel)
The Judaeans (otherwise, the Jews)
The Assyrians (now have their own elite title)