Product Description

The most distinguished series in military history, published in the US for the first time. Each is volume written by a leading authority in the field and edited by John Keegan, the world's preeminent military historian.

The ancient Greeks—who believed war was the most important of human endeavors—bequeathed to the West an incomparable military legacy that still influences the structure of armies and doctrine today. This brilliant and controversial account covers a millennium of Greek warfare. 70 color, 30 b/w photographs.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #835063 in Books
• Published on: 2004-09-30
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 240 pages

About the Author
Victor Davis Hanson is a Professor of Classics at the California State University.

Customer Reviews

Overreaching
One has a sneaking suspicion reading this volume that Hanson started with his conclusion first (that Greeks invented the so-called "Western" way of war which, according to Hanson, requires emphasis on "decisive" battles) and worked his way back. The "uniqueness" of the Western way of war remains unproven (proving it would require an analysis of methods of waging war by other civilizations), and moreover it is far from clear that Hanson's "Western way of war" has been actually waged by Western states.

Suffers from some factual/interpretive errors and the author's political agenda
There are some things about this book that are worthy of praise and I agree with many of its points (though he oversells some of them.) When Victor Hanson is writing about the military aspects his style is very interesting and refreshing. I particularly like the statistics/tables in the back--since they provide a sense of perspective and strengthen some arguments.

However, there are aspects of this book that made me skeptical and my fears were confirmed after doing some fact checking. In trying to prove his point VDH sometimes pushes the margins. For example, stating that Philip was wounded by a sling bullet at Methone, when contemporary accounts point to an arrow being the cause. VDH also dismisses Greek cavalry before Philip as being only 10 hands tall...never mind that is the *smallest* find of a classical Greek horse. (They were more like 13 hands high on average...small, but not Lilliputian.) This concerns me as I must now approach the entire work more skeptically.

There is an even larger criticism. VDH writes with a modern political agenda at the forefront, and one has the impression that he selectively picks information to reach pre-ordained conclusions, rather than conducting a thorough, balanced review. This is unfortunate as it removes the sense of historical objectivity. If I was searching for a modern political argument I wouldn't be buying a book ostensibly about ancient warfare.

In summary, I can only recommend this book to the discriminating reader that already has developed a balanced knowledge of Greek warfare.

Jump off point
This book provides a student or casual reader interested in Greek warfare and anthropological study a good base from which to work from. A little technical at times, he sometimes gets bogged down in some areas, but finishes brilliantly. With the history of Greek warfare fresh in your mind, it's a must to go into "Soul of Battle," right after - it's a wonderful transition into a supurb book on leadership.