[41Y]≫ Read Gratis A War Like No Other How the Athenians and Spartans Fought the Peloponnesian War Victor Davis Hanson 9780812969702 Books

A War Like No Other How the Athenians and Spartans Fought the Peloponnesian War Victor Davis Hanson 9780812969702 Books

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A War Like No Other How the Athenians and Spartans Fought the Peloponnesian War Victor Davis Hanson 9780812969702 Books

A War Like No Other is an extremely readable and thoroughly enjoyable book about the Peloponnesian War, perhaps the watershed event of the classical world.

The book is divided into chapters about the myriad ways the Peloponnesian war was fought, with chapters dedicated to such things as trying to ravage enemy cropland, hoplite battle, trireme fighting at sea, cavalry, terror and unconventional tactics etc. Nonetheless the chapters carry you roughly through the chronology of the war because how the war was fought was exactly what was so important about the Peloponnesian war. Before this war the ancient Greeks fought in a ritualized, both morally inspired and constrained, manner in which agrarian hoplite phalanxes settled issues in one day. It was felt this separated the courageous from the cowardly leaving the more virtuous victorious, minimizing casualties, and allowing the men to return to the preferred way of life of farming year round. The rapidly growing wealth, naval prowess, and cosmopolitan nature of the Athenian empire threatened to change this paradigm however and prompted the Spartans, still clinging to the idea of Hoplite virtue, to try to cut the Athenians down to size.

What resulted next was a nearly thirty years bloodbath as the two sides groped and blundered their way to figuring out how to fight a "modern" war. The inexorable nature of war remained a constant however, and this is a book about the nature of war shining through as the world progresses. Stalemate and misery marked most of the thirty years of the Peloponnesian war until the Spartans could finally bring the Athenians to the decisive battle, on sea however instead of the traditional hoplite battle hoped for in the first years. In the process the author describes vividly and clearly what evolutions the two sides went through, and what giant military and social changes the Peloponnesian war wrought. Throughout he often brings you into the human side of the fighting so you can appreciate what the average Greek combatants went through.

Most people look to history to bring the current world into focus and this is a natural tendency. You can certainly use this book (or any other on the Peloponnesian War) to try to shape your views on the War on Terror and the War in Iraq in that these are potentially the first "post-moder" wars, and both sides are indeed figuring out how to fight them on the fly much like the Athenians and Spartans. But the author does NOT shove this parallel down your throat in any way. He draws many parallels to many wars that the average reader is more likely acquainted with than the Peloponnesian war, including the current ones, for pedagogical purposes and it is certainly appreciated.

Definitely a recommended read.


Tags : A War Like No Other: How the Athenians and Spartans Fought the Peloponnesian War [Victor Davis Hanson] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. One of our most provocative military historians, Victor Davis Hanson has given us painstakingly researched and pathbreaking accounts of wars ranging from classical antiquity to the twenty-first century. Now he juxtaposes an ancient conflict with our most urgent modern concerns to create his most engrossing work to date,Victor Davis Hanson,A War Like No Other: How the Athenians and Spartans Fought the Peloponnesian War,Random House Trade Paperbacks,0812969707,Ancient - Greece,Greece - History - Peloponnesian War, 431-404 B.C,ANCIENT GREECE - HISTORY,GENERAL,General Adult,Greece,HISTORY Ancient Greece,HISTORY Civilization,HISTORY Military General,HISTORY Military Wars & Conflicts (Other),History,History - Military War,HistoryAncient - Greece,HistoryWorld,History: World,MILITARY HISTORY - ANCIENT,Military - Wars & Conflicts (Other),Military history,Non-Fiction,United States,history; military history; peloponnesian war; greece; war; ancient greece; ancient history; sparta; athens; ancient; greek history; classical greece; military; warfare; greeks; classics; thucydides; history books; nonfiction books; historical non fiction; culture; cultural history; society; social history; non fiction; social studies; history book; historical; historical non fiction books; non fiction history books; books about history; books about history for adults; non fiction books; historical events; historic; nonfiction,history;military history;peloponnesian war;greece;war;ancient greece;ancient history;sparta;athens;ancient;greek history;classical greece;military;warfare;greeks;classics;thucydides;history books;nonfiction books;historical non fiction;culture;cultural history;society;social history;non fiction;social studies;history book;historical;historical non fiction books;non fiction history books;books about history;books about history for adults;non fiction books;historical events;historic;nonfiction,HISTORY Ancient Greece,HISTORY Civilization,HISTORY Military General,HISTORY Military Wars & Conflicts (Other),HistoryAncient - Greece,Military - Wars & Conflicts (Other),History - Military War,Ancient Greece - History,Military History - Ancient,History,History: World,Military history

A War Like No Other How the Athenians and Spartans Fought the Peloponnesian War Victor Davis Hanson 9780812969702 Books Reviews

Most of us know Victor Davis Hanson from his pointed commentaries in National Review and many books on contemporary issues, but he started his impressive career as a classicist. The book presently under review, 'A War Like No Other', deals with the great civil war within ancient Greece between authoritarian Sparta and democratic Athens from 431-404 BC, made famous primarily through the contemporary account by Thucydides.

The Peloponnesian War was a decades-long conflict, both epic and gruesome in its scale. As a percentage of the respective populations, as many people died in this war as in World War I. An epic stand-off between a military dictatorship and a radical democracy, the war offers obvious lessons for our present age. Athens saw itself as morally superior and wealthier, and commanded a mighty navy that firmly boosted its self-confidence; Sparta thought its opponent decadent and politically indecisive. Athens' democratic decision-making throughout the war led to follies such as the Sicilian Expedition and the occasional executions of its best military commanders after a humiliating defeat -- neither of which helped the Athenian war effort, to put it mildly. And then there's the personal history of Alcibiades, the infamous Athenian commander who defected to Sparta mid-war. As such, this subject encompasses the best and worst elements of our flawed human nature.

The Peloponnesian War had all the elements of ancient, yet also hints of modern, warfare. Traditional hoplite battles were certainly fought during the many years of the conflict. However, the unwritten rule in Greek civilization that conflicts between Greek peoples should be decided by a short fight between two professional armies on an open battlefield on a sunny afternoon, was quickly thrown out the window as the dispute escalated.

Soon, Spartan armies besieged Athens, forcing the Athenians to retreat behind their city walls. The outbreak of an (unknown) infectious and very deadly disease resulting from this siege is very vividly detailed in Mr. Hanson's book. Affected persons got fevers so bad they hurled themselves into the city's water supply, thereby further spreading the outbreak. The great Pericles himself perished from it.

The book is carved up not chronologically but thematically, with sieges, hoplite warfare, naval warfare and other subjects being highlighted in turn. Those familiar with Mr. Hanson's other writings will quickly discern an overarching pattern in 'A War Like No Other' that's present elsewhere too His ability to bring the important subjects down to human proportions is second to none. So he will dedicate a few pages to how difficult it is, in fact, to destroy olive trees, because they don't burn easily and are remarkably resilient (Mr. Hanson is himself a farmer in California). He will elaborate on the poor rowers occupying the lower decks in the triremes, the Greek naval vessels. And he describes the fate of those in the cities suffering through sieges while desperately trying to reinforce their protective walls as the besiegers are working to break them down. Finally, the pages detailing the outbreak of disease in Athens, mentioned above, leave a lasting impression. It all makes for excellent reading.

The plethora of city names and other terms hurled at you throughout the book can make it a little intimidating and even dry at times. But Mr. Hanson's command of the subject is impressive, making the book an excellent introduction into the history of this great war. If you're looking to expand your historical scope and dip your toes into this subject, I can highly recommend this wonderful read.
A War Like No Other is an extremely readable and thoroughly enjoyable book about the Peloponnesian War, perhaps the watershed event of the classical world.

The book is divided into chapters about the myriad ways the Peloponnesian war was fought, with chapters dedicated to such things as trying to ravage enemy cropland, hoplite battle, trireme fighting at sea, cavalry, terror and unconventional tactics etc. Nonetheless the chapters carry you roughly through the chronology of the war because how the war was fought was exactly what was so important about the Peloponnesian war. Before this war the ancient Greeks fought in a ritualized, both morally inspired and constrained, manner in which agrarian hoplite phalanxes settled issues in one day. It was felt this separated the courageous from the cowardly leaving the more virtuous victorious, minimizing casualties, and allowing the men to return to the preferred way of life of farming year round. The rapidly growing wealth, naval prowess, and cosmopolitan nature of the Athenian empire threatened to change this paradigm however and prompted the Spartans, still clinging to the idea of Hoplite virtue, to try to cut the Athenians down to size.

What resulted next was a nearly thirty years bloodbath as the two sides groped and blundered their way to figuring out how to fight a "modern" war. The inexorable nature of war remained a constant however, and this is a book about the nature of war shining through as the world progresses. Stalemate and misery marked most of the thirty years of the Peloponnesian war until the Spartans could finally bring the Athenians to the decisive battle, on sea however instead of the traditional hoplite battle hoped for in the first years. In the process the author describes vividly and clearly what evolutions the two sides went through, and what giant military and social changes the Peloponnesian war wrought. Throughout he often brings you into the human side of the fighting so you can appreciate what the average Greek combatants went through.

Most people look to history to bring the current world into focus and this is a natural tendency. You can certainly use this book (or any other on the Peloponnesian War) to try to shape your views on the War on Terror and the War in Iraq in that these are potentially the first "post-moder" wars, and both sides are indeed figuring out how to fight them on the fly much like the Athenians and Spartans. But the author does NOT shove this parallel down your throat in any way. He draws many parallels to many wars that the average reader is more likely acquainted with than the Peloponnesian war, including the current ones, for pedagogical purposes and it is certainly appreciated.

Definitely a recommended read.