The Trojan War as Military History (ePub)
Imprint: Pen & Sword Military
File Size: 12.9 MB (.epub)
Pages: 272
Illustrations: 16 mono and 30 colour
ISBN: 9781399094474
Published: 6th March 2023
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The Trojan War as Military History Hardback Add to Basket | £25.00 |
In The Trojan war as Military History, the author's starting point is the fact that the Iliad, notwithstanding the fantastical/mythological elements (the involvement of gods and demigods), is the earliest detailed description of warfare we have. Stripping away the myths, Manousos Kambouris analyses the epic and combines it with other textual and archaeological evidence to produce a coherent narrative of the conflict and of Bronze Age warfare in the Aegean.
The author presents the most detailed analysis possible of Mycenaean Greek armies - their composition and organization, the warriors' weapons, armour and tactics, and those of their enemies. He finds sophisticated combined-arms forces blending massed infantry with missile troops and chariots, employing open battle, deception and special operations in what amounted to total war. The author's detailed examination of the mechanics of Bronze Age combat is enriched by his use of insights from experimental archaeology using replica equipment. No less illuminating or significant than the minutiae of heroic duels is the setting of the strategic context of the conflict and the geopolitical relationship of the Mycenaean Greeks with their rivals across the Aegean. Seeking to integrate the supernatural/divine element of the Iliad within the power structure and struggle of the day, the author lashes the Trojan War to the chariot of rationality and drags it from the mists of mythology and into the realm of History.
Review as featured in
Historical Miniatures Gaming Society
"The result is a stimulating, thought-provoking read about the ancient Greeks rivalry with their Trojan neighbours. This book is an exceptional piece of original research and informed insight from an author immersed in his subject, better known for his masterful trilogy on the Greco-Persian Wars. It might seem somewhat esoteric and at times is academic but even the non-specialist, general reader would benefit from its contents especially the section on the ten-year siege of Troy."
Edmund G. Perry - Norfolk Family History Society - 'The Ancestor' magazine
A simply fascinating, informative, thought-provoking read that is enhanced for its readership with the inclusion of numerous plates and illustrations, a four page Bibliography, and a three page Index, "The Trojan War as Military History" is an extraordinary work of original and superbly presented research -- making it a particularly and unreservedly recommended contribution to community, college, and university library Greek and Military History collections. It should be noted for the personal reading lists of students, academia, military history buffs, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the Trojan War history, folklore, and mythology, that "The Trojan War as Military History" is also available in a digital book format.
Midwest Book Review
Read the full review here
As Featured in.
Wargames Illustrated Feb 2023 Issue 442
About Manousos E Kambouris
Manousos E Kambouris has a background in scientific writing, contributing chapters on a wide range of disciplines to various edited volumes and journals. He has been researching Ancient Greek warfare for many years and has published numerous articles in Archeologija Prirodne Na (Archaeology and Science), Ancient Warfare, Military History, War & History, NUOVA ANTOLOGIA MILITARE, Third Eye and Hellenic Nexus. He has written three previous books on Marathon, Salamis and Xenophon’s Ten Thousand. For the past 8 years he has been a historical consultant to the experimental archaeology group Koryvantes, the Association of Historical Studies. In 2022 Pen & Sword published his trilogy on the Greco-Persian Wars to 479 BC (The Rise of Persia and the First Greco-Persian Wars; Persia Triumphant in Greece: The High Tide, 481-480 BC and The Greek Victories and the Persian Ebb 480–479 BC) and in early 2023 will publishThe Trojan War as Military History.