Starr's mini-classic details the seminal world of Archaic Greece in a way that makes clear the sources of the latter Greek Miracle-the Clsassical period. He points to the suddenness of the early takeoff in the age of Hesiod and after, the almost mysterious coming together of the Greek foundations. In a few generations the complete phenomenon came into being.

Chester G. Starr's comprehensive volume of ancient history from the early achievements of man to the decline of the Roman Empire, is remarkable in scope, charming in its clarity, and as a whole, impressive; but it is not to be compared with the work of Will Durant. Like Durant, Starr focuses on the revolutions of history--which is the evolution of civilization--and completes his treatment of it in one 700-pg. volume. If we are to compare the span of time handled in Starr's work with that of Durant's renowned "Story of Civilization," then it may rightly be said that Durant took three-and-a-half volumes to cover the same period that Starr completed in one. This makes Starr's work more accessible to students looking for summaries, while Durant's is more appealing to accomplished readers, seeking more in-depth research upon their desired subject. Durant's always has a deeper feel for his subject and comments upon it with engaging philosophical insights, while Starr's narrative remains sketchy, and for the most part, humdrum. However, this does not take away from the fact that Starr's "A History of the Ancient World" is one of the most noble of its kind, for its consolidation of such a broad period has been seldom matched. The comparison with Will Durant is not to down play the worth of Starr's work; rather, it is to prove his worth, for every American historian looks to Durant as a source for inspiration, and as a model to attempt to emulate. It is an honor to be placed in the company with someone of the likes of Will Durant, much in the same way that every English historian is indebted to Edward Gibbon and Winston Churchill. His work is well worth its weight and renders itself as a carry-it-anywhere reference source for ancient history. The contents cover the Paleolithic and Neolithic times, to the early civilizations of Egypt, Mesopotamia, China, and the Indus Valley, Minoan, Assyrian, and Hebrew, into the classical times of the Greco-Roman world, all the way until the fall of Rome and the dawn of the Middle Ages. The work also holds an abundance of maps, charts, and pictures, which make reading it all the more entertaining and fulfilling. The sources are analyzed at the end of each chapter, along with detailed bibliographies entailed by suggested further reading. This book is recommended.

This book offers an oversight to the basic developments in history: from the first appearances of human life, then culture, and then cities and societies. It gives an occasional glance to the east, but it's emphasis is tracing the development of Greek and Roman civilization. It is useful in its broadness, but potentially misleading by the same token. For the general reader, I would say Starr offers a decent rough comparison between different societies and epochs; thus enabling some concept of what made the Romans, the Greeks, etc different from the rest of the world.

Having been a graduate student in history, I must say that this book is a major relief. In Chester Starr, one will not find a paranoid historian, obsessed with political correctness and bent on thrashing Western history. He gives the Greeks and the Romans fair praise and criticism while not neglecting that these societies did not represent all people's of the earth. (Although, he suggests that the Greeks were devoid of superstition and the belief in magic, which I find hard to believe.) Global history is such a politically heated argument these days, that I would recomend Starr as the most qualified and balanced scholar for the average reader. Today, Starr is branded as Whigish and probably Eurocentrist, which is a shame for our intellectual conditions.

For the casual history fan, like myself, this was the perfect one-volume history of the ancient world. It is a comprehensive look at the various civilizations that rose and fell from the Sumerians to the Romans. Starr gives you the big picture and puts the contributions of the ancient world in perspective.

It is written in a clear and concise prose style. There is just the right amount of attention to detail, but not so much as to make it tedious. It was enjoyable to read and I am happy to have this book in my library to keep for future reference for my children and myself.

As this was the text book for a classical civilization course I took, I found that this book was pleasantly readable, unlike most college texts. It was detailed enough so that it almost read like a novel at times, yet covered over 1000 years in the history of Rome so that it served as a good knowledge base. In addition, I enjoyed the fact that it took the knowledge one step further and analyzed WHY certain events occured (eg. the fall of the Western Roman Empire and why the East survived). I find many history texts that simply focus on WHAT occured and don't get into more detail. I liked how Starr divided Roman History into four units, with each section revolving around a central and important figure in Roman history (Hannibal,Caesar,Hadrian,St. Augustine). I found the "Roman Life" sections after each Unit to be a little bland at times, but the sections that were good were well written to hold my interest. I am very intrigued with ancient Roman history, and I found this text to be a worthwhile book, for academics or leisure.

Purports to show that sea power didn't have an impact on the power of ancient states, particularly the Roman Empire. The problem as I see it is summed up in the blurb on the dust jacket - "...the unmatched Roman imperial navy...succeeded in momentarily clearing the surrounding waters of pirates, but was useless when barbarians came from the interior and mutilated Roman defenses." By the time the barbarians did this, the Roman navy in effect had ceased to exist. This is such an oversight on the author's part that it's difficult to take the book seriously - and Starr is an historian with a large list of titles to his credit.

Works by Lionel Casson are listed in the bibliography but there are no references in the index. Starr's quotes and anecdotes from ancient times are informative and interesting, though mishandled and misinterpreted. Obviously Starr is a landlubber, or perhaps his mother got sick on a boat ride when she was pregnant with him.

The prolific (though sometimes cranky) Michael Grant has a title in print regarding the near-collapse of the Roman Empire in the 3rd c that may illuminate the problems of the barbarian invasions. Lionel Casson's "Travel in the Ancient World" has chapters about travel by sea and the effectiveness of the Roman navy at eradicating piracy. His "Ancient Mariners" is out in a new edition and that is also recommended.

Although Starr fails to make his case, this short book is worth a read.

Regrettably this is a rather unenlightening essay (and essay it is, because it hardly stretches for more than 100 pages). The author, in what could be quite an interesting trip, seeks to discuss the economic, political and military forces that contribute to a great navy, and, in doing so, to find guiding principles in ancient naval combat. But instead, we really just get a retreatment, lifted from established (and readily accessible) sources, of the Peloponesian, Persian, Punic and Roman Civil wars - and precious, precious little for Imperial Rome. There are some occasionally lucid discussions of the difficulties of raising a fleet from a primarily agrarian economy (e.g. Sparta), as opposed to doing so via a mercantilist one (e.g. Atlanta). But there are plenty of writers in print (e.g. Donald Kagan, Peter Green, Michael Grant) who cover the same ground with considerably more aplomb.

This is a nice, quick read that discusses the importance (and sometimes irrelevance) of thalassocracy in antiquity. In this book, the author detail the ages of Early Greece thru to the fall of the Roman Empire.

Starr details for us how Alexander of Macedon conquered the Persian Navy by taking over the Persian ports (and thus giving the Persian fleet nowhere to land). He also writes of the immense importance that Piraeus held for Athens; it was due to the revenues of her seapower that Athens was able to build such wonders as the Parthenon. Starr then demonstrates why this authority over the seas was so very important for Athens during the early stages of the Peloponnesian war.

We also learn how seapower was one of the primary ingrediants that made Rome a power to reckon with. It was the turning-of-the tables with Carthage as far as seapower was concerned which was the decisive factor of the First Punic War.

Starr continues with the use of seapower by Julius Caesar to both rid the Meditteranean of pirates as well as to further his empire.

While one may disagree with some of the opinions of Starr, this book is well worth reading for any maritime scholars or historians of antiquity.

Although this book is highly informative, Starr's writing style often hinders the reader from fully comprehending the scope of what is being written about. Starr seems to jump from topic to topic and cross century lines with little or no notice to the reader. This book would be a great companion text to another volume of Roman history, but on its own, it is very difficult to decipher.