Xenophon's Retreat: Greece, Persia, and the End of the Golden Age

New
Paperback
2008
$31.17

$31.17

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More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 272
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Published: 02 Dec 2008
ISBN 10: 0674030737
ISBN 13: 9780674030732
Book Overview: An excellent book. Robin Waterfield writes very well, in a style that is accessible and sophisticated. We are taken into an adrenaline-filled hoplite battle, we discover that owning horses in Xenophon's day was a mark of the super-rich like owning a Ferrari today, we even back away from the bad breath of ancient slaves, and as we view the sea from the Pontic mountains we understand why 'the sea' was virtually an ancient Greek way of saying 'home.' -- Barry Strauss, Cornell University, author of The Trojan War: A New History

Media Reviews

Mr. Waterfield, unlike his ancient source, tells the story briskly and vividly. Reading his account of the march is like hearing a record that used to sound like sludge finally set to the right rpm. But Mr. Waterfield...goes easy on his favored Greeks, whom he views as trying to live virtuously in a world that has made it impossible, forgetting somehow that mercenaries like Xenophon's men were the ones who made it impossible. Xenophon had his chance to live virtuously. He had been loosely associated with Socrates and so knew the basic outline of the virtuous life. But Xenophon grew bored and headed east--to present-day Iraq, which has never been a good place to go if you're bored or looking to live virtuously. -- Brendan Boyle New York Sun The Anabasis is a good place to begin understanding the Greek and thus Western way of inventing the East and defining ourselves through contrast, and sometimes conflict, with it. Waterfield's book is a good place to begin understanding the Anabasis. On the armature of Xenophon's narrative Waterfield sculpts a readable, accurate recounting of the Greek march up-country and the retreat after Cunaxa...I wish I had known this book when I read the Anabasis with my students in the fall of 2006. When I read it again in 2007, my students will learn much from Waterfield's accessible introduction. -- Lee T. Pearcy Bryn Mawr Classical Review In Xenophon's Retreat, a superb book, Waterfield starts with the decisive battle, then works backward and forward. His accounts of warfare in the 4th century B.C. raise the hair and turn the stomach. He explores the staggering logistics of moving thousands of men, slaves, concubines and animals, tons of supplies, armor and weapons, over alien territories. His hunches are reasonable and his storytelling gripping. -- John Timpane Philadelphia Inquirer 20090506

Author Bio

Robin Waterfield has recently published a new translation of Xenophon's Anabasis. He is also the author of Athens: A History and has translated works by Euripides, Plutarch, Herodotus, Aristotle,Plato, and other works by Xenophon.