Western Way of War: Infantry Battle in Classical Greece

The Economist
"A small masterpiece of style and scholarship."


Journal of Interdisciplinary History
"[Hanson's] vivid style and meticulous combing of the ancient literary, archaeological, and epigraphical sources have produced a near masterpiece of historical imagination and reconstruction. . . . Masterful and gripping."


Journal of Hellenic Studies
"[Hanson] has opened up a whole new way of looking at classical Greek war-fare. . . . The study of Greek warfare can never be quite the same again."


Christopher Hitchens, Newsday
"Enthralling. . . . One closes this book wishing that its final verdict was as well known as more familiar tenets of Greek wisdom."


Book Description
Second Edition The Greeks of the classical age invented not only the central idea of Western politics--that the power of state should be guided by a majority of its citizens--but also the central act of Western warfare, the decisive infantry battle. Instead of ambush, skirmish, maneuver, or combat between individual heroes, the Greeks of the fifth century b.c. devised a ferocious, brief, and destructive head-on clash between armed men of all ages. In this bold, original study, Victor Davis Hanson shows how this brutal enterprise was dedicated to the same outcome as consensual government--an unequivocal, instant resolution to dispute. The Western Way of War draws from an extraordinary range of sources- -Greek poetry, drama, and vase painting, as well as historical records--to describe what actually took place on the battlefield. It is the first study to explore the actual mechanics of classical Greek battle from the vantage point of the infantryman--the brutal spear-thrusting, the difficulty of fighting in heavy bronze armor which made it hard to see, hear and move, and the fear. Hanson also discusses the physical condition and age of the men, weaponry, wounds, and morale. This compelling account of what happened on the killing fields of the ancient Greeks ultimately shows that their style of armament and battle was contrived to minimize time and life lost by making the battle experience as decisive and appalling as possible. Linking this new style of fighting to the rise of constitutional government, Hanson raises new issues and questions old assumptions about the history of war.


About the Author
Victor Davis Hanson is Professor of Classics at California State University, Fresno, and author of Warfare and Agriculture in Classical Greece (revised edition, California 1998), The Other Greeks: The Family Farm and the Agrarian Roots of Western Civilization (revised edition, California 1999), and Fields without Dreams: Defending the Agrarian Idea (1996).


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This compelling account of what happened on the killing fields of the ancient Greeks shows that their style of armament and battle was contrived to minimize time and loss of life by making the battle experience decisive and appalling. Linking this new style of fighting to the rise of constitutional government, Hanson raises new issues and questions old assumptions about the history of war.


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