Makers of Ancient Strategy
From the Persian Wars to the Fall of Rome
(amazon)Victor Davis Hanson (View Bio)
Hardcover: Princeton University Press, 2010.
In this "prequel" to the classic Makers of Modern Strategy, a book in print since 1943, Victor Davis Hanson, a leading scholar of ancient military history, gathers prominent thinkers to explore key facets of warfare, strategy, and foreign policy in the Greco-Roman world. From the Persian Wars to the final defense of the Roman Empire, this book demonstrates that the military thinking and policies of the ancient Greeks and Romans remain surprisingly relevant for understanding conflict in the modern world.
The book reveals that much of the organized violence witnessed today—counterterrorism, urban fighting, insurgencies, preemptive war, and ethnic cleansing—has ample precedent in the classical era. The book examines the careful tactical strategies of statesmen as diverse as Pericles, Demosthenes, Alexander, Pyrrhus, Caesar, and Augustus. It shows how Greco-Roman history sheds light on wars of every age. In addition to the editor, the contributors are David L. Berkey, Adrian Goldsworthy, Peter J. Heather, Tom Holland, Donald Kagan, John W. I. Lee, Susan Mattern, Barry Strauss, and Ian Worthington.
"At every point throughout this superb collection of essays, one cannot but reflect on Western engagements in far-off, alien places." — Peter Jones, Sunday Telegraph
"The essays are all thought provoking, and readers will find surprises, insights, and things to argue about." — Choice
"Mr. Hanson's examination of the dangers implicit in pre-emptive warfare is riveting, as is John W.I. Lee's explanation of why the specter of urban warfare was as despised by ancient strategists as it is today by modern warriors.... Mr. Hanson [has] begun the serious study of what the ancients might have to teach us about a world where traditional nation-states not only have to coexist with armed non-state actors but must negotiate with them on nearly equal terms or sometimes fight them." — Gary Anderson, The Washington Times
