Customer Reviews

Warfare in the Classical World: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Weapons, Warriors and Warfare in the Ancient Civilisations of Greece and Rome

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An absolute must have for anyone who is remotely interested in warfare in the classical world. Not just dry descriptions, but beautiful, realistic, full color illustrations of the soldiers from each important evoloution. (Such as the Homeric and Spartan hoplites, the Macedonian Phalangite, the Companion Cavalryman, the Thracian Peltast, the varied Persian troops, and the various evoloutions of the Roman Legionary and their foes (including Hannibal's Iberians, the Celts, and the Huns), along with detailed descriptions of each one's panopoly and tactics. Also describes all major battles, seagoing and siege tactics and the historical timeline surrounding each. The one thing it lacks is analysis of the great generals, which is appropriate as a good study of any great leader can easily fill a book this size. However, is a must-have companion to any T. A. Dodge or similar work on the period. Really puts a face on the fighting soldier.

This is a beautifully balanced book. It covers the classical period between 1600BC and 800AD in a very organised and readable way. Each period is prefaced with the heading "Ancient Authorities" and outlines where the following information is sourced. Then the period is discussed in flowing narrative which highlights the key personalities and events of the time along with an indepth look at the mechanics of warfare. The strategy and tactics presented is blended nicely with the historical discussion. The numerous battle maps and accompanying data are a treasure for the military, history and wargaming buffs. The artwork throughout is first class as are the maps. I particularly like the full page colour depictions of combatants from different armies with detailed explanatory notes, some of the best I've seen. I found the middle part of the book focussed a little more heavily on the historical aspect. It did not contain as many battle maps as the first and latter part did, and I found myself flicking ahead to see when I would reach one of the battle descriptions and maps. In summary, this is a terrific encyclopedia and ranks as one of the nicest books I have seen on the subject. Superb.

This is an excellent book on ancient warfare. It covers warfare from as far back as the Trojan War to the fall of the Western Roman Empire. John Warry makes the book a lot more interesting than other books of this era by accompanying the text with detailed drawings of soldiers, weapons, and galleys and also by adding several fairly detailed maps of time periods and battles. The book also has a time line that runs along the bottom of every page that provides info on events occurring around the world as well as summarizing the info in the chapters.

Another great thing about the book, that was also covered by other reviewers, is the section of ancient authorities. This adds to the credibility of the book by stating sources as well as just by providing information about scholars of the times.

There isn't too much to complain about, but if I had to say something, I wish that there was more time spent on warfare at the time of Imperial Rome. Only 2 out of 12 chapters cover this 400-500 year period of time though Republican Rome is covered in detail.

Overall though this is a great buy and a great reference for ancient warfare.

This truly is a marvelous book and provides a wonderful introduction to warfare in the classical world. The only issue I had with the book was the scant details on warfare during the Roman Empire itself. The Greece section -- from Homeric times to Alexander the Great and his successors -- comprises half the book's pages, and then the Roman Republic section -- from Pyrrhus to the beginning of Octavian/Augustus rule -- comprises about 80 pages. This leaves only 15 pages for the Empire itself, about 400 years of history, and the section scarcely went into any detail whatsoever. I'm not sure why the author chose largely to ignore this critical part of Roman history; perhaps he thought there was enough information out there already.

This one problem aside, the book is simply marvelous, and as long as you don't mind the author breezing over Imperial Rome, it's a must-buy. The Alexander the Great section in particular is spectacular.

I bought this book in hardbound some years ago and it has become very worn from continual use. It and Peter Connolly's "Greece and Rome at War" (now apparently out of print) are the two best books that I have found in many, many years of searching. They are truly outstanding, and I would recommend them to anybody from novice to near expert. Indeed, I have done so many times.

As far as explaining warfare in the classical world, you really couldn't get a better book. Its illustrations are clear and informative. I originally found this book in my high school library and it took all my will power to keep from stealing it. I've found that most books that expain famous battles do so in a manner that's often vague and leave much to the reader's interpretation. This book shows how a battle came about - step by step. Keep in mind that it doesn't especially delve in the political/social mechanisms of why the battle started, but that isn't necessary considering that so many other books cover those topics sufficiently.

This is an exceptional book for wargamers interested in the art of war in Classical times. The text is clear, concise, and gives a good overview of the political and cultural events that shaped the art of war and the history of the particular period in a particular chapter. The illustrations give good looks at uniform and organisational details, and the descriptive maps/illustrations give a decent look at tactics.
Getting all of this in one volume at a reasonable price makes this a "must-buy" for wargamers (particularly beginning wargamers) looking at the Greeks, Macedonians, Persians, Cathaginians, and/or Romans as potential armies for the tabletop.

This is a superb "history" of classical warfare as practised by Greek and Roman armies. The reason I state "history" and not just an encyclopedia is because the book is set out in a chronological order and not purely as your typical encyclopedic style ie. not alphabetically. However this presentation is much more logical and lucid. The writing is very good and not at all dry and the illustrations are superb. This book has all one needs to know about warfare in the classical world of Greece and Rome and even includes details and illustrations of the various foes fought by the Greeks and Romans such as the Persians, Carthaginians and Celts. My only difficulty now is to decide whether this book is better than "Greece and Rome at War" by Peter Connolly....

Very informative and interesting synopsis of warfare from early greek times through the Roman Empire. Features many illustrations, too, that give the reader an even better picture of ancient combat. The battle descriptions and maps are the best part though, as they take you stepwise through each major conflict of the ancient world.

Illustrations, presentation and text are excellent. A great primer and illustrative reference for those studying other detailed books of this era.