The Western Way of War: Infantry Battle in Classical Greece - Softcover

Hanson, Victor Davis

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0520260090 ISBN 13: 9780520260092

Publisher: University of California Press, 2009

Synopsis

The Greeks of the classical age invented not only the central idea of Western politics―that the power of state should be guided by a majority of its citizens―but also the central act of Western warfare, the decisive infantry battle. Instead of ambush, skirmish, or combat between individual heroes, the Greeks of the fifth century B.C. devised a ferocious, brief, and destructive head-on clash between armed men of all ages. In this bold, original study, Victor Davis Hanson shows how this brutal enterprise was dedicated to the same outcome as consensual government―an unequivocal, instant resolution to dispute. Linking this new style of fighting to the rise of constitutional government, Hanson raises new issues and questions old assumptions about the history of war. A new preface addresses recent scholarship on Greek warfare.

About this title

About the Author:

Victor Davis Hanson is Professor of Classics at California State University, Fresno, and author and coauthor of many books, including The Landmark Thucydides: A Comprehensive Guide to the Peloponnesian War.

Review:

"A small masterpiece of style and scholarship." -- The Economist

"Enthralling. . . . One closes this book wishing that its final verdict was as well known as more familiar tenets of Greek wisdom." -- Christopher Hitchens, Newsday

"[Hanson's] vivid style and meticulous combing of the ancient literary, archaeological, and epigraphical sources have produced a near masterpiece of historical imagination and reconstruction. . . . Masterful and gripping." -- Journal of Interdisciplinary History

"[Hanson] has opened up a whole new way of looking at classical Greek war-fare. . . . The study of Greek warfare can never be quite the same again." -- Journal of Hellenic Studies

About this edition

• Publisher: University of California Press
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0520260090
• ISBN 13: 9780520260092
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 320