Military History, Book Reviews, and Other Things

Tag Roman Empire

Book Review: Carnage and Culture: Landmark Battles in the Rise to Western Power by Victor Davis Hanson

I have been a fan of Dr. Hanson’s work since I first read The Western Way of War: Infantry Battle in Classical Greece years ago while pursuing my undergrad degree in Military History.  Carnage and Culture: Landmark Battles in the… Continue Reading →

The Limes – Relics of an Empire

Many people have heard of Hadrian’s Wall in the UK and same have even heard of the Antonine Wall a little farther north.  What many people have never heard of or if they have heard of do not know where… Continue Reading →

Book Review: Rome’s Revolution by Richard Alston

The end of the Roman Republic and founding of the Empire is one of those events in history that has been recounted so often in histories and also in stage and theater that everyone thinks they know what, why, and… Continue Reading →

Pompeii and Herculaneum

I recently visited Pompeii and Herculaneum on a visit to Italy with my family.  This is my report of the visit. We went to Herculaneum first, mainly because I knew it was the smaller site and our hotel was in… Continue Reading →

Book Review: The Medieval Fortress by J.E. & H.W. Kaufmann

The Medieval Fortress: Castles, Forts, And Walled Cities Of The Middle Ages is a good study of the art and methods of fortifications and castles built in Eastern and Western Europe during the Middle Ages from the fall of Rome to… Continue Reading →

Book Review: Men, Women & War by Martin van Creveld

I picked up Men, Women & War: Do Women Belong in the Front Line? by Martin van Creveld at the library recently because it looked like a good book about a topic I have found interesting ever since I was… Continue Reading →

Back from Vacation, posting to resume shortly

I just returned from vacation in Croatia and will be back to posting updates soon.  I also got some pretty good material and photos while on the trip to be used in some upcoming posts.  I got a very good… Continue Reading →

Book Review: The Roman World by Nigel Rogers

The Roman World by Nigel Rogers is one of the best surveys of the Ancient Romans I have run across in years. This is not a military history of Rome, or even a history at all. It is rather a… Continue Reading →

Book Review: Castles and Fortified Cities of Medieval Europe: An Illustrated History by Jean-Denis G. G. Lepage

Castles and Fortified Cities of Medieval Europe: An Illustrated History is a very interesting book.  I picked it up because we had a three hour bus ride to get to my son’s football game and my wife was using my Kindle.  I am certainly glad… Continue Reading →

Book Review: Anatomy of the Castle by John Gibson

Anatomy of the Castle by John Gibson is perhaps the best book describing Castles aimed at the general reader that I have ever read.  The author manages to make the somewhat technical and dry language of describing castles and their construction lovely and entertaining. It… Continue Reading →

Book Review: Holy Wars: 3000 Years of Battles in the Holy Land by Gary Rashba

HOLY WARS: 3000 Years of Battles in the Holy Land is one of the better primers about conflict in the Holy Land to appear within the last few years.   It consists of 17 chapters covering the initial Israelite conquest… Continue Reading →

Book Review: Julius Caesar: Lessons in Leadership from the Great Conqueror by Bill Yenne

[FULL DISCLOSURE: I received my copy of this book free from the publisher. I was not paid for this review and the opinion expressed is purely my own] I am someone who loves the ancients and loves reading the their… Continue Reading →

Book Review: Makers of Ancient Strategy – Edited by Victor David Hanson

This book was conceived as being a sort of prequel to the modern classic, Makers of Modern Strategy, edited by Peter Paret and first published in the 70’s and updated in the 90’s. As Dr Hanson states in his foreword… Continue Reading →

The Battle of Zama – 202 B.C.

The Battle of Zama, fought in 202 B.C., was the culminating battle of the Second Punic War between Carthage and Rome. The short story of the battle is that a Roman army under Scipio met and destroyed the Carthaginian Army… Continue Reading →

Book Review: The Roman Army at War: 100 BC – AD 200 by Adrian Keith Goldsworthy

  I thought this book would be more than it turned out to be, unfortunately, I was mistaken. The author states in the forward that it is an expansion of his doctoral dissertation and it is obvious throughout that this… Continue Reading →

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