The Grand Strategy of the Byzantine Empire

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Author :
Publisher : Harvard University Press
ISBN 13 : 0674035194
Total Pages : 513 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (74 download)

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Book Synopsis The Grand Strategy of the Byzantine Empire by : Edward Luttwak

Download or read book The Grand Strategy of the Byzantine Empire written by Edward Luttwak and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2009-11 with total page 513 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this book, the distinguished writer Edward N. Luttwak presents the grand strategy of the eastern Roman empire we know as Byzantine, which lasted more than twice as long as the more familiar western Roman empire, eight hundred years by the shortest definition. This extraordinary endurance is all the more remarkable because the Byzantine empire was favored neither by geography nor by military preponderance. Yet it was the western empire that dissolved during the fifth century. The Byzantine empire so greatly outlasted its western counterpart because its rulers were able to adapt strategically to diminished circumstances, by devising new ways of coping with successive enemies. It relied less on military strength and more on persuasion—to recruit allies, dissuade threatening neighbors, and manipulate potential enemies into attacking one another instead. Even when the Byzantines fought—which they often did with great skill—they were less inclined to destroy their enemies than to contain them, for they were aware that today’s enemies could be tomorrow’s allies. Born in the fifth century when the formidable threat of Attila’s Huns were deflected with a minimum of force, Byzantine strategy continued to be refined over the centuries, incidentally leaving for us several fascinating guidebooks to statecraft and war. The Grand Strategy of the Byzantine Empire is a broad, interpretive account of Byzantine strategy, intelligence, and diplomacy over the course of eight centuries that will appeal to scholars, classicists, military history buffs, and professional soldiers.

The Grand Strategy of the Byzantine Empire

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Author :
Publisher : Harvard University Press
ISBN 13 : 0674054202
Total Pages : 513 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (74 download)

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Book Synopsis The Grand Strategy of the Byzantine Empire by : Edward N. Luttwak

Download or read book The Grand Strategy of the Byzantine Empire written by Edward N. Luttwak and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2009-11-15 with total page 513 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this book, the distinguished writer Edward N. Luttwak presents the grand strategy of the eastern Roman empire we know as Byzantine, which lasted more than twice as long as the more familiar western Roman empire, eight hundred years by the shortest definition. This extraordinary endurance is all the more remarkable because the Byzantine empire was favored neither by geography nor by military preponderance. Yet it was the western empire that dissolved during the fifth century. The Byzantine empire so greatly outlasted its western counterpart because its rulers were able to adapt strategically to diminished circumstances, by devising new ways of coping with successive enemies. It relied less on military strength and more on persuasion—to recruit allies, dissuade threatening neighbors, and manipulate potential enemies into attacking one another instead. Even when the Byzantines fought—which they often did with great skill—they were less inclined to destroy their enemies than to contain them, for they were aware that today’s enemies could be tomorrow’s allies. Born in the fifth century when the formidable threat of Attila’s Huns were deflected with a minimum of force, Byzantine strategy continued to be refined over the centuries, incidentally leaving for us several fascinating guidebooks to statecraft and war. The Grand Strategy of the Byzantine Empire is a broad, interpretive account of Byzantine strategy, intelligence, and diplomacy over the course of eight centuries that will appeal to scholars, classicists, military history buffs, and professional soldiers.

The Grand Strategy of the Roman Empire

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Author :
Publisher : JHU Press
ISBN 13 : 1421419459
Total Pages : 297 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (214 download)

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Book Synopsis The Grand Strategy of the Roman Empire by : Edward Luttwak

Download or read book The Grand Strategy of the Roman Empire written by Edward Luttwak and published by JHU Press. This book was released on 2016-05-18 with total page 297 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A newly updated edition of this classic, hugely influential account of how the Romans defended their vast empire. At the height of its power, the Roman Empire encompassed the entire Mediterranean basin, extending much beyond it from Britain to Mesopotamia, from the Rhine to the Black Sea. Rome prospered for centuries while successfully resisting attack, fending off everything from overnight robbery raids to full-scale invasion attempts by entire nations on the move. How were troops able to defend the Empire’s vast territories from constant attacks? And how did they do so at such moderate cost that their treasury could pay for an immensity of highways, aqueducts, amphitheaters, city baths, and magnificent temples? In The Grand Strategy of the Roman Empire, seasoned defense analyst Edward N. Luttwak reveals how the Romans were able to combine military strength, diplomacy, and fortifications to effectively respond to changing threats. Rome’s secret was not ceaseless fighting, but comprehensive strategies that unified force, diplomacy, and an immense infrastructure of roads, forts, walls, and barriers. Initially relying on client states to buffer attacks, Rome moved to a permanent frontier defense around 117 CE. Finally, as barbarians began to penetrate the empire, Rome filed large armies in a strategy of “defense-in-depth,” allowing invaders to pierce Rome’s borders. This updated edition has been extensively revised to incorporate recent scholarship and archeological findings. A new preface explores Roman imperial statecraft. This illuminating book remains essential to both ancient historians and students of modern strategy.

The Grand Strategy of the Byzantine Empire

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Author :
Publisher : Harvard University Press
ISBN 13 : 067425564X
Total Pages : 472 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (742 download)

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Book Synopsis The Grand Strategy of the Byzantine Empire by : Edward N. Luttwak

Download or read book The Grand Strategy of the Byzantine Empire written by Edward N. Luttwak and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2011-11-30 with total page 472 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this book, the distinguished writer Edward N. Luttwak presents the grand strategy of the eastern Roman empire we know as Byzantine, which lasted more than twice as long as the more familiar western Roman empire, eight hundred years by the shortest definition. This extraordinary endurance is all the more remarkable because the Byzantine empire was favored neither by geography nor by military preponderance. Yet it was the western empire that dissolved during the fifth century. The Byzantine empire so greatly outlasted its western counterpart because its rulers were able to adapt strategically to diminished circumstances, by devising new ways of coping with successive enemies. It relied less on military strength and more on persuasion—to recruit allies, dissuade threatening neighbors, and manipulate potential enemies into attacking one another instead. Even when the Byzantines fought—which they often did with great skill—they were less inclined to destroy their enemies than to contain them, for they were aware that today’s enemies could be tomorrow’s allies. Born in the fifth century when the formidable threat of Attila’s Huns were deflected with a minimum of force, Byzantine strategy continued to be refined over the centuries, incidentally leaving for us several fascinating guidebooks to statecraft and war. The Grand Strategy of the Byzantine Empire is a broad, interpretive account of Byzantine strategy, intelligence, and diplomacy over the course of eight centuries that will appeal to scholars, classicists, military history buffs, and professional soldiers.

Maurice's Strategikon

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Author :
Publisher : University of Pennsylvania Press
ISBN 13 : 9780812217728
Total Pages : 212 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (177 download)

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Book Synopsis Maurice's Strategikon by : Maurice (Emperor of the East)

Download or read book Maurice's Strategikon written by Maurice (Emperor of the East) and published by University of Pennsylvania Press. This book was released on 1984 with total page 212 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As a veteran campaigner, the Byzantine emperor Maurice (582-602) compiled a unique and influential handbook intended for the field commander. In this first complete English translation, the Strategikon is an invaluable source not only for early Byzantine history but for the general history of the art of war. Describing in detail weaponry and armor, daily life on the march or in camp, clothing, food, medical care, military law, and titles of the Byzantine army of the seventh century, the Strategikon offers insights into the Byzantine military ethos. In language contemporary, down-to-earth, and practical, the text also provides important data for the historian, and even the ethnologist, including eyewitness accounts of the Persians, Slavs, Lombards, and Avars at the frontier of the Empire.

The Byzantine Art of War

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Author :
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781594162718
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (627 download)

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Book Synopsis The Byzantine Art of War by : Michael J. Decker

Download or read book The Byzantine Art of War written by Michael J. Decker and published by . This book was released on 2016-09 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Complete Overview of One of the Most Important Military Forces in the History of the World The Byzantine Art of War explores the military history of the thousand-year empire of the eastern Mediterranean, Byzantium. Throughout its history the empire faced a multitude of challenges from foreign invaders seeking to plunder its wealth and to occupy its lands, from the deadly Hunnic hordes of Attila, to the Arab armies of Islam, to the western Crusaders bent on carving out a place in the empire or its former lands. In order to survive the Byzantines relied on their army that was for centuries the only standing, professional force in Europe. Leadership provided another key to survival; Byzantine society produced a number of capable strategic thinkers and tacticians--and several brilliant ones. These officers maintained a level of professionalism and organization inherited and adapted from Roman models. The innovations of the Byzantine military reforms of the sixth century included the use of steppe nomad equipment and tactics, the most important of which was the refinement of the Roman mounted archer. Strategy and tactics evolved in the face of victory and defeat; the shock of the Arab conquests led to a sharp decline in the number and quality of imperial forces. By the eighth and ninth centuries Byzantine commanders mastered the art of the small war, waging guerrilla campaigns, raids, and flying column attacks that injured the enemy but avoided the decisive confrontation the empire was no longer capable of winning. A century later they began the most sustained, glorious military expansion of their history. This work further sketches the key campaigns, battles, and sieges that illustrate Byzantine military doctrine, vital changes from one era to another, the composition of forces and the major victories and defeats that defined the territory and material well-being of its citizens. Through a summary of their strategies, tactics, and innovations in the tools of war, the book closes with an analysis of the contributions of this remarkable empire to world military history.

The Eurasian Way of War

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Author :
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1317237080
Total Pages : 290 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (172 download)

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Book Synopsis The Eurasian Way of War by : David A. Graff

Download or read book The Eurasian Way of War written by David A. Graff and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-03-10 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is a comparative study of military practice in Sui-Tang China and the Byzantine Empire between approximately 600 and 700 CE. It covers all aspects of the military art from weapons and battlefield tactics to logistics, campaign organization, military institutions, and the grand strategy of empire. Whilst not neglecting the many differences between the Chinese and Byzantines, this book highlights the striking similarities in their organizational structures, tactical deployments and above all their extremely cautious approach to warfare. It shows that, contrary to the conventional wisdom positing a straightforward Western way of war and an "Oriental" approach characterized by evasion and trickery, the specifics of Byzantine military practice in the seventh century differed very little from what was known in Tang China. It argues that these similarities cannot be explained by diffusion or shared cultural influences, which were limited, but instead by the need to deal with common problems and confront common enemies, in particular the nomadic peoples of the Eurasian steppes. Overall, this book provides compelling evidence that pragmatic needs may have more influence than deep cultural imperatives in determining a society’s "way of war."

The Rise of China vs. the Logic of Strategy

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Author :
Publisher : Harvard University Press
ISBN 13 : 0674071255
Total Pages : 191 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (74 download)

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Book Synopsis The Rise of China vs. the Logic of Strategy by : Edward N. Luttwak

Download or read book The Rise of China vs. the Logic of Strategy written by Edward N. Luttwak and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2012-11-15 with total page 191 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As the rest of the world worries about what a future might look like under Chinese supremacy, Edward Luttwak worries about China’s own future prospects. Applying the logic of strategy for which he is well known, Luttwak argues that the most populous nation on Earth—and its second largest economy—may be headed for a fall. For any country whose rising strength cannot go unnoticed, the universal logic of strategy allows only military or economic growth. But China is pursuing both goals simultaneously. Its military buildup and assertive foreign policy have already stirred up resistance among its neighbors, just three of whom—India, Japan, and Vietnam—together exceed China in population and wealth. Unless China’s leaders check their own ambitions, a host of countries, which are already forming tacit military coalitions, will start to impose economic restrictions as well. Chinese leaders will find it difficult to choose between pursuing economic prosperity and increasing China’s military strength. Such a change would be hard to explain to public opinion. Moreover, Chinese leaders would have to end their reliance on ancient strategic texts such as Sun Tzu’s Art of War. While these guides might have helped in diplomatic and military conflicts within China itself, their tactics—such as deliberately provoking crises to force negotiations—turned China’s neighbors into foes. To avoid arousing the world’s enmity further, Luttwak advises, Chinese leaders would be wise to pursue a more sustainable course of economic growth combined with increasing military and diplomatic restraint.

Endangered American Dream

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Author :
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
ISBN 13 : 1439130361
Total Pages : 372 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (391 download)

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Book Synopsis Endangered American Dream by : Edward N. Luttwak

Download or read book Endangered American Dream written by Edward N. Luttwak and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2010-05-11 with total page 372 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of America's most thoughtful and provocative strategists exposes the economic and cultural assumptions that have driven the U.S. to the brink of social and financial collapse. Edward Luttwak reveals a forceful new policy that can reverse America's decline.

Strategy

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Author :
Publisher : Harvard University Press
ISBN 13 : 0674255615
Total Pages : 321 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (742 download)

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Book Synopsis Strategy by : Edward N. Luttwak

Download or read book Strategy written by Edward N. Luttwak and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2002-01-31 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “If you want peace, prepare for war.” “A buildup of offensive weapons can be purely defensive.” “The worst road may be the best route to battle.” Strategy is made of such seemingly self-contradictory propositions, Edward Luttwak shows—they exemplify the paradoxical logic that pervades the entire realm of conflict.In this widely acclaimed work, now revised and expanded, Luttwak unveils the peculiar logic of strategy level by level, from grand strategy down to combat tactics. Having participated in its planning, Luttwak examines the role of air power in the 1991 Gulf War, then detects the emergence of “post-heroic” war in Kosovo in 1999—an American war in which not a single American soldier was killed.In the tradition of Carl von Clausewitz, Strategy goes beyond paradox to expose the dynamics of reversal at work in the crucible of conflict. As victory is turned into defeat by over-extension, as war brings peace by exhaustion, ordinary linear logic is overthrown. Citing examples from ancient Rome to our own days, from Barbarossa and Pearl Harbor down to minor combat affrays, from the strategy of peace to the latest operational methods of war, this book by one of the world’s foremost authorities reveals the ultimate logic of military failure and success, of war and peace.

The Oxford Handbook of Grand Strategy

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Author :
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0192576623
Total Pages : 801 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (925 download)

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Book Synopsis The Oxford Handbook of Grand Strategy by : Thierry Balzacq

Download or read book The Oxford Handbook of Grand Strategy written by Thierry Balzacq and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2021-09-13 with total page 801 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A clearly articulated, well-defined, and relatively stable grand strategy is supposed to allow the ship of state to steer a steady course through the roiling seas of global politics. However, the obstacles to formulating and implementing grand strategy are, by all accounts, imposing. The Oxford Handbook of Grand Strategy addresses the conceptual and historical foundations, production, evolution, and future of grand strategy from a wide range of standpoints. The seven constituent sections present and critically examine the history of grand strategy, including beyond the West; six distinct theoretical approaches to the subject; the sources of grand strategy, ranging from geography and technology to domestic politics to individual psychology and culture; the instruments of grand strategy's implementation, from military to economic to covert action; political actors', including non-state actors', grand strategic choices; the debatable merits of grand strategy, relative to alternatives; and the future of grand strategy, in light of challenges ranging from political polarization to technological change to aging populations. The result is a field-defining, interdisciplinary, and comparative text that will be a key resource for years to come.

Byzantine Military Tactics in Syria and Mesopotamia in the 10th Century

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Author :
Publisher : EUP
ISBN 13 : 9781474431040
Total Pages : 360 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (31 download)

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Book Synopsis Byzantine Military Tactics in Syria and Mesopotamia in the 10th Century by : Georgios Theotokis

Download or read book Byzantine Military Tactics in Syria and Mesopotamia in the 10th Century written by Georgios Theotokis and published by EUP. This book was released on 2020-08-31 with total page 360 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines the strategies and military tactics of the Byzantines and their enemies in Eastern Anatolia, Syria and in Upper Mesopotamia in the tenth century.

The Grand Strategy of the Habsburg Empire

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Publisher : Princeton University Press
ISBN 13 : 0691196443
Total Pages : 422 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (911 download)

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Book Synopsis The Grand Strategy of the Habsburg Empire by : A. Wess Mitchell

Download or read book The Grand Strategy of the Habsburg Empire written by A. Wess Mitchell and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2019-10 with total page 422 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Habsburg Empire's grand strategy for outmaneuvering and outlasting stronger rivals in a complicated geopolitical world The Empire of Habsburg Austria faced more enemies than any other European great power. Flanked on four sides by rivals, it possessed few of the advantages that explain successful empires. Yet somehow Austria endured, outlasting Ottoman sieges, Frederick the Great, and Napoleon. A. Wess Mitchell tells the story of how this cash-strapped, polyglot empire survived for centuries in Europe's most dangerous neighborhood without succumbing to the pressures of multisided warfare. He shows how the Habsburgs played the long game in geopolitics, corralling friend and foe alike into voluntarily managing the empire's lengthy frontiers and extending a benign hegemony across the turbulent lands of middle Europe. The Grand Strategy of the Habsburg Empire offers lessons on how to navigate a messy geopolitical map, stand firm without the advantage of military predominance, and prevail against multiple rivals.

Lost to the West

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Author :
Publisher : Crown
ISBN 13 : 0307407969
Total Pages : 354 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (74 download)

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Book Synopsis Lost to the West by : Lars Brownworth

Download or read book Lost to the West written by Lars Brownworth and published by Crown. This book was released on 2010-06-01 with total page 354 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Filled with unforgettable stories of emperors, generals, and religious patriarchs, as well as fascinating glimpses into the life of the ordinary citizen, Lost to the West reveals how much we owe to the Byzantine Empire that was the equal of any in its achievements, appetites, and enduring legacy. For more than a millennium, Byzantium reigned as the glittering seat of Christian civilization. When Europe fell into the Dark Ages, Byzantium held fast against Muslim expansion, keeping Christianity alive. Streams of wealth flowed into Constantinople, making possible unprecedented wonders of art and architecture. And the emperors who ruled Byzantium enacted a saga of political intrigue and conquest as astonishing as anything in recorded history. Lost to the West is replete with stories of assassination, mass mutilation and execution, sexual scheming, ruthless grasping for power, and clashing armies that soaked battlefields with the blood of slain warriors numbering in the tens of thousands.

Accursed Tower

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Author :
Publisher : Yale University Press
ISBN 13 : 0300248857
Total Pages : 301 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (2 download)

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Book Synopsis Accursed Tower by : Roger Crowley

Download or read book Accursed Tower written by Roger Crowley and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2019-11-19 with total page 301 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The city of Acre, powerfully fortified and richly provisioned, was the last crusader stronghold. When it fell in 1291, two hundred years of Christian crusading in the Holy Land came to a bloody end. With his customary narrative brilliance and immediacy, Roger Crowley chronicles the tumultuous and violent attack on Acre, the heaviest bombardment before the age of gunpowder, which left this once great Mediterranean city a crumbling ruin.The ‘Accursed Tower’ was the focal point of this siege. As the last garrison of the Crusader defences, it came to symbolise the disintegration of the old world and the rise of a new era of Islamic jihad. Crowley’s narrative is based on forensic research, drawing heavily on little known first hand sources, both Christian and Arabic. This is a fast-paced and gripping account of a pivotal moment in world history.

Byzantium and Its Army, 284-1081

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Author :
Publisher : Stanford University Press
ISBN 13 : 9780804731638
Total Pages : 276 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (316 download)

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Book Synopsis Byzantium and Its Army, 284-1081 by : Warren T. Treadgold

Download or read book Byzantium and Its Army, 284-1081 written by Warren T. Treadgold and published by Stanford University Press. This book was released on 1995 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this first general book on the Byzantine army, the author traces the army's impact on the Byzantine state and society from the army's reorganization under Diocletian until its disintegration in the aftermath of the battle of Manzikert.

The Grand Strategy of Classical Sparta

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Author :
Publisher : Yale University Press
ISBN 13 : 0300218605
Total Pages : 657 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (2 download)

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Book Synopsis The Grand Strategy of Classical Sparta by : Paul Anthony Rahe

Download or read book The Grand Strategy of Classical Sparta written by Paul Anthony Rahe and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2015-11-24 with total page 657 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: DIV” “Powerfully illustrates . . . that this regime determined the character and limits of Sparta’s domestic and foreign policy.” (Susan D. Collins, IThe Review of Politics) More than 2500 years ago a confederation of small Greek city-states defeated the invading armies of Persia, the most powerful empire in the world. In this meticulously researched study, historian Paul Rahe argues that Sparta was responsible for the initial establishment of the Hellenic defensive coalition and was the most essential player in its ultimate victory. Drawing from an impressive range of ancient sources, including Herodotus and Plutarch, the author veers from the traditional Atheno-centric view of the Greco-Persian Wars to examine from a Spartan perspective the strategy that halted the Persian juggernaut. Rahe provides a fascinating, detailed picture of life in Sparta circa 480 B.C., revealing how the Spartans’ form of government and the regimen to which they subjected themselves instilled within them the pride, confidence, discipline, and discernment necessary to forge an alliance that would stand firm against a great empire, driven by religious fervor, that held sway over two-fifths of the human race. “[Rahe] has an excellent eye for military logistics . . . crisp and persuasive.” —The Wall Street Journal “Intensely well-researched and well-balanced.” —Steve Donoghue, The National “Masterful.” —Joseph Bottum, Books and Culture “A serious scholarly endeavor.” —Eric W. Robinson, American Historical Review “This brilliant revisionist study . . . reminds us how Sparta . . . saved Western freedom from the Persian aggression—and did so because of its innate courage, political stability, and underappreciated genius.” —Victor Davis Hanson, author of The Other Greeks “Full of keen understandings that help explain Spartan policy, diplomacy, and strategy.” —Donald Kagan, author of The Peloponnesian War /DIV