There are two masters in dressage during history that not only teached their pupils but also made an effort to write down their knowledge in a book, Xenofon and de la Gueriniere. Xenofon took many things as given and he put the focus on how to handle the horse in a gentle way. Now that many of the knowledge he took for given have been lost still his teaching is modern and when compared to a lot of 20th century books on dressage I would call him revolutionary!

This edition includes both Xenofons book but also historical essays on tacking and other things in ancient greece.

FOR THOSE OF US WHO HAVE THE TWIN PASSIONS OF HORSES AND HISTORY, THIS BOOK WAS FASINATING TO READ. XENOPHON SPEAKS LIKE MANY OF THE TRAINERS TODAY WHO ARE "TRAININ GENTLE". THERE ARE DIFFERENCES OF COURSE BECAUSE HIS MAIN THRUST IS A TRUSTWORTHY MOUNT FOR A CAVALRY THAT DID NOT USE SADDLES. HIS AFFECTION FOR THE ANIMALS IS APPARENT FROM THE OPENING PAGE. THIS BOOK WOULD BE OF INTEREST TO ANYONE WHO IS IN LOVE WITH HORSES, OR WOULD LIKE A FULLER UNDERSTANDING OF THE ANCIENT USE OF CAVALRY.

This is one of the books that I actually took to college with me due to its unusual author. Xenophon wrote this work from the his viewpoint of a cavalry commander several thousand years ago. Even though the work is literally dated his knowledge has never ceased to be of interest to modern riders. Perhaps the first novel ever written on horsemanship it includes training troops, choosing horses, and putting on army displays. Although not the best choice for a person who desires a book to teach them to ride, this book will be a delight for any horseperson desiring to learn about ancient cavalry practices and the origins of the horse in military settings.

Herodotus' Histories is often considered the gold standard of knowledge pertaining to the Persian empire. Little is made of the fact that this Ionian had certain political grudges against his political masters and had never visited Persia or had entry into Persian society. Xenophone however was a nobleman who lived amongst the Persians and the Medes and was acquaianted with their ways and histories. Xenophone's observations on Persian society and religion are far closer to modern scholarship than Herodotus. Furthermore even the chronological inaccuracies of Cyropaedia are in the Persian tradition. As evidenced by Sassanian histories, the Persians had the habit of attributing the conquests of dynasties to their founders. However the most fascinating and thrilling aspect of reading this book is that the educational stories attributed to Cyrus are identical to the stories found in Adab or the Persian courtly literature of Islamic era. Given that Xenophone was not translated into Persian or Arabic, this confirms the authenticity of the materials used by Xenophone. I love this book and have read it twice already. I recommend it to anyone who wants to have a closer look at the realities of Persia.

Xenophobia is the fear of foreigners. Yet Xenophon's greatest book was a biography of the most hated foe of the greeks, Cyrus.

Cyrus was the greatest emperor of the Persian empire, and the antecedent (see what a great scholar I am? I can't remember all the exact facts like a real student should; I read this stuff for fun) of the Persian emperor who Alexander defeated right before Alexander went crazy and decided to conquer the rest of the world while he was on a streak.

In today's Jingoistic anti-Iran & Iraq climate, it's illuminating to get the Persian perspective on world history, and since I haven't found any Persian histories written from the ancient Persian viewpoint, this book is the best I've read.

The writer of the above review has done a great job of conveying the basic arguments and value of Strauss's translation of the Hiero and his discussion with Kojeve. I think that there is yet more to be said. Strauss as a political philosopher argued the case that with Machiavelli modern political thought begins. One cannot help when reading the Hiero to begin to see further, it was already convincingly argued in Thoughts on Machiavelli, how Machiavelli's famous treatise The Prince is in many ways a response to this dialogue from Xenophon. The discussion of tyranny and the "joys" and "protections" that stem from such a life are questioned in the Hiero because of the ramifications of tyrannic rule. Strauss, in typical fashion, articulates and expands on the argument presented in the Hiero. The responses from Kojeve bring the classical into conflict with the most progressive of modern thought, the concept of the universal state. Particularly valuable in this edition is the collection of the correspondence of the two respondents which clarify, and present a more honest argument, the public discourse extant in the formal essays. Read this book as a companion to "The Prince" or studies of Hegel to see the dialogue between "Classical" and "Modern" or even "Post-modern" thought.

This astounding book, On Tyranny, pits Leo Strauss against Alexander Kojeve in the never ending battle of the Ancients against the Moderns. The book begins with the text of Xenophon's Hiero, followed by Strauss's in depth discussion of the Hiero. Then the fireworks start!

Kojeve, in his discussion of Strauss's comments, will elucidate his peculiar mixture of Hegelian, Marxist, and Heideggerian philosophies in order to defend the unity of 'Tyranny and Wisdom' at the end of history, with some amusing asides on Strauss's tendency to build a philosophical cult. Modern tyranny (Stalinism) is rational, or wise, because it leads to the universal, homogenous state. The state in which everyone -- people, politicians, and philosophers -- will be fulfilled. This state, where the people will be safe, politicians renowned, and philosophers enthralled by the rationality of it all, will happen as a result of historical action, or work. We will be living in a world that we made with our own hands. And, as the conflicts of history weed out ever more irrationalities, we come to feel more and more at home in this fabricated, technological world. This leads to less conflict and more fulfillment. Which means, as Kojeve said elsewhere, "History is the history of the working slave." This leaves some of us, Strauss included, wondering if the only thing more wretched than being a slave would be living as a contented one.

Strauss comments on all this in a reply that briefly starts out with a discussion of Eric Voegelin but then turns to the main event. Strauss wants to know how anyone will want to live in this world where everyone thinks the same, feels the same, wants the same. A world in which anyone who thinks/feels/wants differently, as Nietzsche said, goes voluntarily to the madhouse. A world that as Reason is woven into it, Humanity is pushed out of it. His prescription is a return to the ancients, who, as the Hiero shows us, knew that philosophy both could not and should not be realized in time. Otherwise, Humanity will end up engulfed by its own artifacts. Or, as Ernst Juenger remarked, "History is the replacement of men by things.

This book has done so much to call us not to forget our own humanity. The impersonal power of war, the dehumanization of violent death at the hands of other humans- such tragedies as these call us to remember who we are as humans. It is one of the peculiarities of life that it is often at the brink of destruction that we see most clearly what our hearts have always spoken to us. In the violence of war and conflict, our thoughts often return to the simple things of life; the laughter of a child who lived next door, the smell of spring, the faces of old schoolmates.

This collection of poetry serves its title well. Only one poem spoken aptly to our heart calls us to our true selves, against forgetting.

You may also find the poems of Hermann Hesse of importance in this regard, along with Against Forgetting

I have always loved writing poetry, but have often found it hard to read the works of other writers. This book changed me; I have read and re-read the poems collected in this book countless times. It never ceases to move me. The poems offer insight into life, death, love, and the meaning of patriotism. These poems helped me come closer to understanding the experiences of soldiers. Though written many years before I was even born, the themes throughout the book can still be related to today.

Mather and Hewitt's edition of the Anabasis is self-contained in a way that very few Greek texts currently in print are: not only does it have a very detailed line-by-line commentary, map and complete vocabulary, it also has a fulsome introduction to Xenophon and the Anabasis, including what the ancients thought of Xenophon, Xenophon's personality and subsequent literary career, and the organization and equipment of the Persian and Greek armies. The introduction and commentary are both pre-multiculturalist and therefore unabashedly discuss such things as the moral lessons to be drawn from the Anabasis, and the Anabasis as a model of democracy. Throughout, the text is furthermore illustrated with delightful little reproductions of Greek and Persian art, technology, monuments, coins, weapons, etc.

And of course, if you're looking to brush up on your Greek without the aid of a classroom and instructor, this edition is a great choice. Not only does it have the advantages enumerated above, but the Anabasis itself is relatively easy and clear Greek with a historical rather than philosophical vocabulary.

This is an excellent edition for those who are studying Greek on their own. The Anabasis is a fine second year book because its Greek is easier than the "Apology of Socrates" by Plato. This edition also has grammatical notes and a Greek-English dictionary of all the words you will need for translation. You do not have to spend hours looking them up in the Liddell-Scott lexicon. Also, it lists interesting cognates and borrowings for most words. I strongly recommend this edition for those working on Greek as a hobby or outside of an academic environment.

Barber has made some of the most significant contributions to our knowledge of the mind. While others were making extravagant claims about the powers of the mind, Barber was testing what people could actually do in altered states like Yoga and hypnosis and under the influence of LSD, and using techniques like biofeedback.

This is one of his most important works, where he reviews research that tests what happens during hypnosis. Can a suggestion cause a blister to raise ? Can someone's heart be stopped by a suggestion ? Do people really believe they are someone else in a stage hypnosis show ? Barber made some of the most careful tests of these claims and his results are documented in this book. He also introduces his original model for testing hypnosis, the task motivation protocol, where results are compared for people who are motivated to produce results vs. hypnotized to produce results.

Barber came out of all of this with the remarkable conclusion that many of the effects claimed for hypnosis were real, but that they don't require hypnosis ! He found remarkable powers of mind, but at the same time stripped away much of the mystique of "trance."

This book is a great classic of behavioral science, a must for anyone interested in hypnosis or suggestion from any perspective. It joins Hilgard's "Hypnotic Susceptibility," as one of the small handful of essential classics of hypnosis and suggestion research. It was republished in 1995, but quickly sold out of stock. If you can find a copy, grab it.

This is one of those books you have on your list of "books-I-am-going-to-read-someday." Okay, someday arrived. I should have read it decades ago. This is a fairly good translation and the story is written, as was the custom at that time, from the third person point of view. The story begins with a bang and immediately carries us into the expedition itself. When a Greek mercenary army attempts to help Cyrus overthrow his relative, (his brother, Artaxerxes, was the Persian King), it marches all the way to Babylon to give battle...and wins! But Cyrus is killed in the battle and the Greeks find themselves stranded. After the Greek generals are killed in a treacherous parley, the army does not disintegrate, as Artaxerxes and the Persians expect. Instead, they elect new officers, Xenophon among them, and proceed to march out of the Persian Empire across 1,500 miles of hostile terrain teeming with savage adversaries. Xenophon employs a straightforward, soldierly style as he describes people, places and events. It is a wonderful narrative and the action keeps you turning pages until the end. By a happy coincidence, history has preserved this enchanting adventure story. If you prefer to hear a recorded version of it, I recorded it for Audio Connoisseur and you can find it here at Amazon.

Nadon's careful examination of Xenophon's Education of Cyrus is by far the best available treatment of the work: careful, concise, beautifully written. Highly recommended as an introduction not only to Xenophon, but to the reading of classical literature generally.

Allan Bloom, Strauss's most famous and perhaps most brilliant student, once stated that we do not understand Plato because we do not understand Xenophon, who to us seems a fool but to older thinkers seemed wise. Xenophon is far simpler than Plato, and in my experience his books are good introductions to the world of Socratic philosophy. However Xenophon's works are often on topics one might consider prosaic from the standpoint of high philosophy. Besides his more famous works on the Persian emperor Cyrus, Xenophon wrote treatises on hunting, horsemanship, and running a family household.

Interestingly, this last book, the Oeconomicus, is a Socratic work; in it Xenophon presents Socrates speaking with a country gentleman, Kritobulus, about running a family and a large farm. Financial arrangements, relations with the city, the benefits and difficulties of rural plantation life, finding good overseers, and the role of the wife and children in maintaining one's household are all discussed here. On a surface level, then, the book seems to be less about economics and more about economizing or family budgeting. Because Socrates is presented in Plato's works as not much of a family man or as a lover of the country living (Socrates hardly ever goes outside the city of Athens except under compulsion), his interest in Kritobulus' life is unexpected and peculiar to say the least.

I came to this book because the family seems a great rival to the city as a way of living for people, but Plato's Socrates hardly investigates it. The family is dissolved in Plato's Republic, and no dialogue of Plato's deals directly with the family or the country household. To him, it seems, city life is where the action is. By contrast, the Hebrew Bible seems almost entirely concerned with the fortunes of families, or rather the premier family, the children of Israel and their heavenly Father Jehovah. I had gotten a taste of the Bible's rejection/ignorance of philosophy and cities, so I wanted to know what the quintessential representative of philosopy--Socrates--thought about the family. Plato helped me little, so I turned to Xenophon's Oeconomicus. I won't tell you what I found out, but it was amazing how much insight I gained into the Bible from reading Xenophon's little book on household management.

One can address to a classic book like this from Xenophon in many ways. As an historical analyst, as an epic lover, as a thriller seeker as a war lessons teacher and many others. No matter what you are looking for, I recommend to read it as a pleasure itself. If you are able to moved yourself away to that time, and really feel your are in their boots, you will be thrilled to bits. Change your rol from Xenophon to a plain soldier (in the middle an hostile land, surrounded by enemies and without information of the land you are in). Do you feel better?. Can you imagine a better plot for a novel or a film?. In this case you don't need to add on "based on a true story".

I have read Greek classics before, by several publishers, but I really like Loeb Classic version of this book. As a story it is very exciting to see how Xenophon and his army fought their way out of Persia, only be to broken up by internal dissent.

I also enjoyed the format of this book because the original greek was printed on the left side of each page, so for Classics experts, you can see what Xenophon is really writing and come up with your own interpretation.

However, I feel that the interpretation is a good one though (evidenced by the many footnotes explaining why the translater did what he did). All in all, this is a great book for Classics experts and those who aren't, but just want to know what happened.

The word anabasis means military advance, or journey. And what a journey this was for 10,000 Greek mercenaries, who have to get out of Persia after their expedition goes wrong! This was an exciting true-life adventure story, better than any fictional one. If you like adventure or military stories, you'll enjoy this. A little knowledge of contemporary Greek history is helpful, but not necessary to enjoy this very readable translation.