Victor Davis Hanson

This is dated now, by several decades. But it's also an interesting time capsule of the last shudders of classical education in the US system, and an indictment of the dead rot in academia the battle over which we're still participating in a quarter of a century later.
The book is at its strongest when it's defending the classics themselves, at its worst when it melds conservative US politics with said defense. For anyone outside of the US many of these themes will be familiar, including the watering down of the discipline with increasingly inane cross pollination from other disciplines in a desperate search for relevancy. The last part of the book tries to envision a complete restructuring of the (US) educational system, where the classics are not just a required part, but integral in a more holistic and cross-disciplinary education. While entirely utopian in vision it's a fairly interesting vision of alternative education in its own right.… (més)

Through 10 essays by various noted historians, this book attempts to demonstrate that the military thinking and policies of the ancient Greco-Romans remain relevant to understand conflict in the modern world. Ancient leaders include Xerxes, Pericles, Epaminondas, Alexander, Spartacus, and Caesar.

I thought most essays were excellent, providing a nice balance between necessary background information and analysis.

This type of book is a nice addition to the typical standard historical work which focuses on a particular campaign or leader.… (més)