Product Description

In the Mediterranean, the most fought-over region in the world, the figures of potentates and conquerors appear god-like: Thutmosis, Leonidas, Xerxes, Pyrrhus, Hannibal, Caesar and Vercingetorix. Ancient history, from Pharaonic Egypt and the Shahs of Persia, to the Golden Age of Greece and the conquests of Alexander the Great and his dream of universal brotherhood, is dominated by these incredible characters. And then comes Rome, the supreme political event of ancient history and the world's first superpower. This volume is the history of incredible men, brave and reckless, intelligent and foolish, lucky and ill-fated, engaging their forces in battles that are prime examples of ruse, trickery, chance, stupidity and military brilliance. Warlords invent tactics never used before, and use them to change history decisively. Erik Durschmied looks at 17 of ancient history's most fascinating battles, many of which have been almost forgotten, but which in reality changed both the world and time itself.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1196543 in Books
• Published on: 2002-10-17
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 448 pages

Manchester Evening News
‘Erik Durschmeid’s revelations are wholly captivating.’

Scotsman
‘Gripping, riveting. Fascinating. Even when you’re sure you know what happened and whodunit, Erik Durschmeid provides another twist.’

Manchester Evening News
‘Erik Durschmeid's revelations are wholly captivating.'

Customer Reviews

I was very upset....
Anyone with a slightly-more-than-average knowledge of the Punic wars will put this book in the most hidden corner of his library after reading the first three pages of the related chapter.
The quick description of the first Punic war is completely misleading.
It misses all the important points and gives inaccurate and cronologically confused informations.
And if you go on, it gets worse.
The short biography of Scipio is confused and contains more than one mistake.
Good as a military novel, no doubt, and the descriptions of battles are well done, but exactly the kind of book a history-lover doesn't like.
Funny that the title reads "How the myth makers changed history"....
That's just my opinion, of course.

Carlo from italy

Please avoid
I purchased the book in Istanbul airport hoping for something interesting to read on the flight back home. The book is awful. The writing is lacking in imagination and flair, the editing has left many grammatical and syntactical errors in the text and whoever checked the historical facts for veracity should be hung upside down by their ankles. This is not military history. This is the stuff of Xena warrior princess. There were too many erroneous elements in the classical and Hellenistic sections to put the book down - reading the book to the end, past all the mis-named barbarian races of the final chapters, was very much like slowing down and looking at the car wreck on the motorway. You know you shouldn't, but you do so anyway just to see how bad the thing is in the end.

The battles that you have heard of but never really knew
What a fascinating book. Many of the heroes and battles of ancient times that you have heard of, but never quite knew how they fitted into the big picture of B.C. history. Absolutely essential for swotting up to impress your friends and to win pub quizzes, but lacks the detail to get you through a degree course in ancient history.
I was amazed at the casualty counts in some of these battles where whole nations were wiped out. They make some of today's conflicts look like minor skirmishes.

Very well written and totally absorbing. I only wish there were more than the few maps and diagrams present to illustrate the battles and campaign trails.