Customer Reviews

The Greeks at War: From Athens to Alexander (Essential Histories Specials)

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I guess the cliché "a picture is worth a thousand words" is over used. Therefore I will not demean myself by utilizing it. However this book uses phase-by-phase maps to show the progression of a battle. Therefore what might take an hour to understand 20 pages on Gaugamela takes 5 minutes looking at a map. This book also has drawing of dwelling of the various Greek cities and encompasses the culture of the time period. After all, the important thing about the Greeks is the lifestyle of freedom. And the preservation of that freedom is what made the Greco-Persian Wars so important. The book covers the Greco-Persian Wars, Peloponnesian War and Alexander. The only downside is that there are a few gaps that aren't covered. However for the average reader may not want to take the time to read about the minor wars. I have read quite a few books on the Greeks and I think that people like J.F.C. Fuller and Arrian do an excellent job describing Alexander, but this book makes an excellent compliment. Therefore, I recommend this book to amateur and experienced reader.

This book presents an excellent introduction to the Persian, Peloponnesian, various post-Peloponnesian and Macedonian wars. Further, it is supplemented by occasional biopics of soldiers from each of these eras and cultural considerations as well. The writing is very easy to read, and the work is filled with full-collor photographs to supplement learning, as well as roughly a dozen maps showing the interplay of armies during historical battles. There are quotes from ancient historians, with a greater presence of direct quotations in the section on Alexander.

This book is a compilation of 3 of Osprey Publishing Press previously published short 90 page short books in their "Essential Histories" series. Each of the 3 books makes up one chapter of this volume. The only addition to the 3 books is a 2 page introduction by the Classical Scholar Victor Hansen that, unfortunately, really does not add anything of substance.

Due to the short length of each of the books contained therein (about 90 pages of which half illustration), a potential reader should not expect to obtain an in-depth analysis or history of each of the topics but instead only a very succinct overview. In this the three chapters due succeed. In about 3-4 hours of reading the reader gets an idea regarding the historical contexts the wars occurred in. The powers discussed, leaders, armed forces are briefly discussed as well as how the wars drew themselves out and finally, what the consequences of the wars were (with respect to the last all 3 chapters are quite weak). Considering the length of the wars, for example the Peloponnesian War lasted 27 years, this is no small feat. In addition, the book is well illustrated with both strategic and tactical maps as well as photos and illustrations based on contemporary statues, coins, etc. showing troops and their armaments, leaders, etc.

All and all a fairly good introduction to these wars for those who have only about 4 hours to get up to speed.