What history book are you reading or planning to read?/ The history bookreview thread

[bobbin]

Oh come on, comparing gangs with a Greek mercenary army.

The Warriors is actually loosely based The Ten Thousand, very loosely though.

[geala]

I think I actually wouldn't like to watch a modern movie based on the Kyrou Anabasis. The real advantage and benefit of the book is that it gives a lot of informations about the peoples involved, the kind of fighting, customs and a lot of hints to human behaviour, sometimes not in favour of the Greek soldiers involved. I fear it's impossible to show the real value of the book in a commercial movie. There are no villains and no heroes (except perhaps Xenophon, but ok, it is his book...), so it may be difficult to understand by many. It would even be impossible to accept for many that Xenophon was not the leader of the soldiers, but only one of 10 strategoi and not the most important one. The story in itself is, I dare to say, rather boring, a group of people trying to march through a partly hostile country. Good opportunity to pack the movie with slow motion fighting szenes however... You see, I'm not very impressed by modern movies.
That said, of course I would watch the movie and buy a copy.

[fomalhaut]

would you recommend the book? does it read like a narrative?
i'm not necessarily interested in Herodotus writing style, I like the style of Arrian and Plutarch and Luke (of the gospels) if that helps.


Also I've found myself enamored with Persian culture lately and i thought i'd ask the experts here which is a good general book on the history of the Persian people, language, culture (pre and post Islam) but definitely on Cyrus the Great who interests me very much. I'd rather not get a poor book from a chain bookstore on the subject, but trust in you

[Basileus_ton_Basileon]

Rupert Matthews - Alexander at the Battle of the Granicus.

I quite like the detailing of how the individual units are armed and organised (virtually identical to EB specifications :D). I also find Matthews' speculation on how the Hetairos fought in combat somewhat convincing. Matthews essentially portrayed Alexandros (at the time of the Granikos campaign) as an untested noob (his enemies certainly saw him as such)... with results contrary to his foes expectations.

[moonburn]

would you recommend the book? does it read like a narrative?
i'm not necessarily interested in Herodotus writing style, I like the style of Arrian and Plutarch and Luke (of the gospels) if that helps.


Also I've found myself enamored with Persian culture lately and i thought i'd ask the experts here which is a good general book on the history of the Persian people, language, culture (pre and post Islam) but definitely on Cyrus the Great who interests me very much. I'd rather not get a poor book from a chain bookstore on the subject, but trust in you

last year i read the entire wiki article about persia/iran and it´s very interesting since it aproaches several cultures that antecipated the sassanids altough it doesn´t go to the merrow of the stuff (it took me almost 2 days but must admit xx century iranian history is what takes the longer)

[fomalhaut]

I have a pedestrian/wiki understanding of Persian history and culture, osmosis from Alexander and Herodotus and of course I know a bit more in depth the history of the modern Islamist State and its predecessors but I think me and you both would benefit from an EB quality recommendation! i'm going to look on the EB Bibliography right meow

[geala]

would you recommend the book? does it read like a narrative?
i'm not necessarily interested in Herodotus writing style, I like the style of Arrian and Plutarch and Luke (of the gospels) if that helps.
...

Do you mean Kyrou Anabasis by Xenophon? Absolutely, it's a very easy and enjoying read, like an adventure novel written by an experienced soldier.

[athanaric]

Also I've found myself enamored with Persian culture lately and i thought i'd ask the experts here which is a good general book on the history of the Persian people, language, culture (pre and post Islam) but definitely on Cyrus the Great who interests me very much. I'd rather not get a poor book from a chain bookstore on the subject, but trust in you

Try From Cyrus to Alexander. A History of the Persian Empire by Pierre Briant. Also, there is more stuff of the same quality in the EB bibliography.

[fomalhaut]

ja ich bedeute das Buch geala! I was sad to see it not included in my Britannica book collection, but Thukydides is in here so that almost makes up for it.

and athanaric that's actually a book from the EB bibliography, believe it or not! so it must be good since it's been independently verified, sweet! Another EB fan got me into studying Persian and i'm loving it, so now i'm wanting to get a more than pedestrian understanding of the Achaemenid to Sassanids :-)

[athanaric]

ja ich meine das Buch, geala!

Fixed. "To mean" is a false friend when translating English to German and vice versa. The common equivalent would be "bedeuten" (= it means), but sometimes it's "meinen" (= I mean; also I guess).

[fomalhaut]

Fixed. "To mean" is a false friend when translating English to German and vice versa. The common equivalent would be "bedeuten" (= it means), but sometimes it's "meinen" (= I mean; also I guess).

oh wow, i never would think that'd be a false friend. thanks!


Well Caesar's Legion wasn't really a general history book, it was solely about the X Legio from it's raise by Caesar in Cordoba to its near dissolution under Piso, its revival under Corbulo during the Armenian and Parthian campaigns. delves into why it was one of the only legions without an official title (like Gemini, Gallica, Augusta), pretty good.

How do Gibbon's Decline of Rome hold up? I just got a Brittanica 54 book collection which has his books in them. (for only $20 usd no less) ^_^

[DeathFinger]

Try From Cyrus to Alexander. A History of the Persian Empire by Pierre Briant.

Actually this is the reference on Achaemenids. And it's partially digitalized on Google Books if I remember well, but in fact, I couldn't advice you more than to read it from the beginning to the end (it 'll take you some times btw ) . And if you can, burrow The Persian Empire: A Corpus of Sources of the Achaemenid Period from Amélie Kuhrt, which's a perfect compilation of sources on Achaemenids, and in this matter complets Pierre Briant's books.

[fomalhaut]

Just about to finish "Caesar's Legion", the history of the X Legio by Stephen Dando Collins. Pretty good, meant for a general audience as it's very readable but i think it serves rather than detracts from the history. i wouldn't expect a book about a specific legion to be anything but meant for casual lovers of history

The life and death of Centurion Crastinus was the most memorable part, "In death or life, Caesar, I will earn you gratitude!"
:(

[kdrakak]

Just about to finish "Caesar's Legion", the history of the X Legio by Stephen Dando Collins. Pretty good, meant for a general audience as it's very readable but i think it serves rather than detracts from the history. i wouldn't expect a book about a specific legion to be anything but meant for casual lovers of history

The life and death of Centurion Crastinus was the most memorable part, "In death or life, Caesar, I will earn you gratitude!"
:(

Legions of Rome by Dando Collins is a brief history of all roman legions (imperial) and focuses on the military aspects rather than history. EB fans might find it more interesting because of that.