Customer Reviews

The Lost Army

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

 

 

The writer, Valerio Manfredi, is an expert Italian university professor and archaeologist who writes quite well ancient mediterrean history, be it on Rome, Egypt, Greece and Persia. He has written numerous historical books with fictional characters. On this occassion, The Lost Army, is about an army of Ten Thousand Greek mercenaries who are contracted by Cyrus to pursue and kill his brother Artaxerxes, who is the Great King of Persia and whom he wants to dethrone for his own personal ambitions. The book is writen from a female point-of-view by a Syrian girl who falls in love with a young Greek warrior in this titanic war expedition with this band of Ten Thousand Greek warriors. It's a good read, but not as good as his brilliant book titled "Pharoah" and his now famed trilogy on Alexander The Great.

The march of the ten thousand is told here from the point of view of a camp follower. All the basics are there although the battle scenes are brief and not engaging.
The biggest problem though is the main character as a narrator. As a persian farm girl she would be believable but with her perfect grasp of politics, omniscience and constantly giving the impression that all the others are stupid she becomes an unrealistic and irritating lead.
The original Anabasis is a far more involving and gripping lead!

Cant's say enough about about the author. I am reading every novel that I can find by Valerio Manfredi. Just a 5 Star ++.. Taylujay