42 of 47 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Great Story About a Great Historical Figure, Nov 9 2010
By Alan Romm - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Landmark Arrian: The Campaigns of Alexander (Hardcover)
Full disclosure : James Romm is my son, so my bias is understandably positive.
With that said, a few thoughts and observations about the book might prove useful to both the serious scholar and the 'regular' reader.
Alexander is one of history's most exciting and provocative figures. Here is a young man who, while still in his 20s, lead an army of thousands of battle hardened warriors, over a period of ten years, many miles from home, and conquered most of the then known world; while maintaning total control over this vast army through sheer genius, charisma, and strenght of personality.
The battles he fought were hallmarks of military brilliance which are beautifully portrayed in the battle diagrams which Jamie tells me are unique and most carefully researched. Together with the description one gets a real feeling for the blood and excitment of ancient hand to hand combat, which of course those battles were.
The text reads like a novel, one could almost say its a real page turner!
Read and enjoy!
22 of 24 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Definitive edition thats well illustrated and maintains the integrity of the original work, Nov 8 2010
By J. Swerdlin "J Slin" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Landmark Arrian: The Campaigns of Alexander (Hardcover)
A very well delineated edition. I had struggled with The Campaigns of Alexander previously, and this book changed that without bastardizing the original work.
Arrian offers quite a comprehensive and rich account. The editor does a wonderful job of providing illustrations and footnotes that shed light on things that one may otherwise find unclear. Its very clean and makes The Campaigns of Alexander a much more accessible, useful and enjoyable read.
I would absolutely recommend it- two thumbs way up.
14 of 15 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Simply The Best There Is, Nov 21 2010
By michael mcgreevy - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Landmark Arrian: The Campaigns of Alexander (Hardcover)
By any criteria you choose, this is simply the best account there is of the campaigns of Alexander The Great.
It is an educational tour de force. I recommend it to anyone interested in classical history, military history, and all who relish a superb work of translation and editing. In edition to this excellent account, there is 100 pages of scholarly appendices. Among the most interesting are: Greek and Macedonian Ethnicity, Alexander's death, and Alexander's army and military leadership.
If you have not read any of the Landmark series, you are in for a real treat. This translation and editing joins the other wonderful translations and editing of the classical works of Herodotus, Thucydides and Xenophon by the series editor, Robert B. Strassler.
I highly recommend this. It is simply the best.