The Rex Warner writes the translation of The Persian Expedition in the odd passive voice of the classical styles making for an awkward read. Does this mean avoid the book? Resoundingly no! Even if not familiar w/classic styles, it's a tale worth the struggle. Regardless of which translation, it holds much in store for those who enjoy a ripping good story or are interested in the historical aspects of Greek politics, society, & military.

Beginning in Persia c404 BCE & ending in Greece c398 BCE, the story opens w/the Persian king on his deathbed calling for his sons. Once he dies, the eldest son is installed on the throne. Due to a duplicitous action on the part of a so-called friend, the younger brother is jailed on allegations he's planning usurpation & only their mother's intercession frees him. Deciding he'd rather not face the experience again, he plans to make good on the deed of which he was accused. Using the guise of ridding a troublesome tribe from his lands, he begins raising an army consisting of native forces & mercenaries from the Greeks city-states.

Marching to the heart of Persia, battle is joined & the usurper killed. The Greeks, w/o a benefactor, parlay a truce & commence withdrawal. During the retreat, more treachery ensues as the Persians, under the pretext of meeting to discuss allaying the distrust between the Greeks & the Persian escort, murder the five remaining generals in charge of the forces. Apathy quickly sets in & the Greeks sit apathetically waiting for death, slavery, or worse.

Among them, the Athenian Xenophon, disciple of Socrates & knight of a noble house, who oddly has no rank or title in the army. He's simply an observer of sorts, there only b/c a mutual friend offered him a personal introduction to the usurper. Until Xenophon speaks up he scarcely plays a role, however, from that moment forward the story is from his point-of-view. He then narrates how he actively leads the Greeks back to their homeland. Upon returning, Xenophon is embroiled in the political complexities of his homeland & must continue to do his best for the remaining troops. After facing trials on foreign soil where lesser men would have folded, then deal w/adversity on his home turf that would make weaker men crumble, he finally earns a well-deserved respite & settles down as landed aristocracy under the protection of Spartan.

Xenophon's recounting is rich w/the events of the Mediterranean & Asia Minor of the era & paints a vibrant map of the times, peoples, & places. As pointed out in the introduction, "The Greek was pre-eminently a 'political animal,' [...]" (p9). A fact demonstrated by Xenophon's documenting the intrigues created by a satrap in the Persian court @ the beginning of the book, and then recording the political currents in the lands the Ten Thousand travel through, finally concluding w/the start of a feud between Sparta & the same satrap whose scheming set the entire series of events in motion.

As a commentary on Greek society, Xenophon's writing includes colourful descriptions of the "barbarians" the Ten Thousand encounter. For instance, when Xenophon describes a tribe of Mossynoeci they come across on the trek from Cerasus to Cotyora along the Black Sea coast:

[...] These people wanted to have sexual intercourse in public w/the mistresses whom the Greeks brought w/them, this being actually the normal thing in their country. [...] Those who were on the expedition used to say that these people were the most barbarous & the furthest removed from Greek ways of all those w/whom they came in contact. When they were in a crowd, they acted as men would in private, & when they were by themselves, they used to behave as they might do if they were in company; they used to talk to themselves, & laugh to themselves, & stop & dance wherever they happened to be, just as if they were giving a display to others (p237).

The unity of Greek culture can't be defined by what it was, but what it wasn't when compared to other cultures. However, in-fighting among the various factions of the city-states was always a threat, yet, they were bonded by the sea & the principles of Greek democratic honour. A fact demonstrated by their cries of "The sea! The sea!" as the first of the Ten Thousand attained summit of Thekes & unite to build a memorial to the occasion on the spot (p211). Their united brotherhood is verified as Arcadian, Athenian, Spartan, & even Thracian, all work together and set aside their city-state loyalties as they celebrate a common bond-the sea.

The military historian absolutely must have this book in their collection. Xenophon is pure Sun-Tzu in motion, &, a copy of his Art of War should be @ hand while reading the tale. Whereas Sun-Tzu wrote the technical manual, Xenophon is the practical application. There are so many examples in the Persian Expedition to cite only one is an injustice. Suffice it; Xenophon displays a profound understanding of how to apply strategy, tactics, & negotiation, in a practical & honourable fashion to enemy, ally, & neutral native. It's worth noting that Sun-Tzu's work predated Xenophon by roughly 150 years & the sparsely worded treatise wasn't introduced to the West for another 1,700 years. Yet, here's an Athenian performing exactly as the master's work w/o benefit of reading or even knowing of Sun-Tzu! Indeed, the master would consider Xenophon "A heaven born general".

As an aside, readers who enjoy Science & Fantasy fiction will enjoy the account. From persona, experience I wonder if Xenophon inspired many Science & Fantasy fiction writers? Two immediately come to mind: Robert Heinlein & Chris Bunch, the former for Starship Troopers, & the latter for Seer King. The two authors mentioned above have emulated the way Xenophon gives what some might term "A Grunt commander's eye-view".

Simply put, the tale of The Persian Expedition is fantastic.

Between the fall of the Athenian Empire and the rise of Alexander, many Greeks sought adventure and fortune as mercenaries. Cyrus of Persia attempted to usurp the throne with an army stiffened by 10,000 Greek mercenaries. The author found himself among that number. Cyrus went down to defeat and death at the Battle of Cunaxa, but one contingent of his army emerged victorious--The Ten Thousand. Alone and unsponsored, surrounded by enemies, and deep in the heart of Persia, The Ten Thousand began their fighting retreat to the sea and freedom. Along the way they met with battle, treachery, hardship, and death. Xenophon became one of their leaders, and eventually lived to write this stirring account of their exploits. The successful retreat of the Ten Thousand served as proof to Phillip of Macedon that a Greek army could conquer Persia, and he made his preparations for the invasion. Phillip's death forestalled his plans, but Alexander took up his father's project and the rest, as they say, is history. If there had been no Westward march by the Ten Thousand, there may have been no Eastward march by Alexander.

The classic story of the march of the "ten thousand" from fatalism to freedom is exciting to read, but is it factual? Many scholars have believed that it was composed using diaries Xenophon kept with him on the campain, but certain inconsistences in the narrative leave this in doubt. However, whether it is a true to life account or not it remains a testament to the will for survival and the Greek spirit of brotherhood among men under pressure.

Good source to compare and contrast Plato's accounts. Major significant part in this book is 'the dinner party'.

More on Socrates, especially for those who wish to know more after having exhausted Plato (which is no simple task). Only gets four stars because it comes across as being slightly less powerful than Plato, although, contrary to the translators opinion, appears to portray the historical Socrates more accurately (except for the final dialogue). Socrates' Defense presents the only other complete account of his trial, Memoirs of Socrates is a collection, The Dinner Party is about the notion of love, and Estate Manager is a dialogue about managing an estate. I have always find the presentation of dialogue preferable to essay (as in Plutarch).

Xenophon relates an easy-to-understand text of who Socrates was and what he taught. It includes his defence, memoirs, dinner party, and estate-manager. Truly fine reading.

Having spent a great deal of my life reading, travelling and studying adn teaching Greek and Roman history, I have to admit that I can be a bit jaded about historical novels about the era. In my experience, only a few novelists have come forward to tackle the crowded and oft overwritten era of the Greeks and Persians. One is Steven Pressfield and the others all run far behind.
Michael Curtis Ford has risen above the fray and put forth a novel that puts ancient Peloponnesia into focus for the non-historian. The book is an excellent look at the larger picture and the story of the "The 10,000," but it really doesn't delve into the essence of being GREEK.
The story is amazing. Epic, even. . .but the novel is not. Some of the literary tools left me longing for Pressfield's descriptive skills and some of the actions seemed forced.
Is this a book that should be read? Yes. Is it the best of the genre? No.
Other good authors in this area include:
Steven Pressfield
Peter Green and

Margaret George (Cleopatra)

The "Ten Thousand" is a fascinating story of the ill-fated campaign of a band of Greek mercenaries in the political chaos following the Peloponnesian War. After the Persian forces pillaged the Greek camp, the Greeks were stranded hundreds of miles from home without the provisions needed to return home. Xenophon, a junior officer who assumed command of the forces after most of the senior officers were betrayed and murdered, leads his army in a perilous journey through hostile enemy terrain until they reach the Black Sea. Along the way, they were forced to face hostile forces, and barely survived starvation, frostbite, and disease.
The "Ten Thousand" was very interesting and fast-paced. Ford gives you a real feel for the horrific hardships that Xenophon and his army endured, and in my view, does a fine job with his character development. Ford weaves in colorfully drawn details of ancient Greek life which enrich the novel and the characters, but never feel overtly "historical" or forced. I finished this book feeling that I had received a layman's education in an area of history that I was previously only vaguely familiar with. This is remarkable writing by any standard.

I normally don't write reviews, but I just finished this incredible book, and when I looked it up on Amazon I was astounded to see the weird conclusions being drawn by a previous reviewer. Tissaphernes a woman?! Holy cow, the text makes it quite clear that the woman was the Persian general's daughter, not the general himself! The story ended halfway through!? The reviewer admittedly draws his information from some high school term paper dredged from the Web. Yikes. Some facts need to be set straight here, and since I loved this book, as well as the original material it was drawn from, I guess I'll do it.

This book is a tremendous novel--a readaption and fictionalization of the Anabasis, Xenophon's recounting of the march of 10,000 Greek soldiers against the most powerful army on earth, and of their struggle for survival after their defeat. Ford accurately, even poetically, describes the bulk of this historic journey, ending only when the Greeks have made their way to safe haven. His rendering covers the original story up to its climax. He thankfully omitted the rest of Xenophon's original work, which is much less novel-worthy. Ford's work is a brilliant effort, and part of its brilliance is in knowing just when to stop. In fact, in an endnote, the author recommends that readers look up the original account.

This book is a great achievement, one that IMHO surpasses even Gates of Fire in its pacing and battle scenes. Don't let bizarre reviews dissuade you from what will definitely become a classic in historical fiction.

Barber gives many examples of bird behaviour that he calls intelligent. The major problem with this book lies in his definition of intelligence. Basically, he calls anything intelligent that is more than the kind of automatic reaction that an animal could acquire through stimulus-response associations. As far as I can tell, he claims that anything more than an automatic response shows intelligence essentially equivalent to that of humans. However, it has been known for decades that most animals can do more than automatically perform actions that were rewarded in the past and avoid those that were punished, without knowledge of what they are doing. Some of these extra capacities are not what most people would call intelligent, others look much more impressive, yet the animal's known behavioural capacities still fall short of what humans can do. Barber ignores all that. For a solidly scientific account of a grey parrott's achievements, read Irene Pepperberg's "The Alex Studies". For a somewhat easier read, try Bernd Heinrich's "The Mind of the Raven".

I could almost hear the sniggers after reading this book and was not surpised to find the lead review here disclaiming this work as 'simplistic.' Actually, biology is simplistic. Mammals are evolved from a recent common ancestor and built around a pretty homogenious genetic bluprint. Biotech is taking advantage of this simple fact; a company in California has engineered a lab mouse possessing the entire human immune system: humans and mice are simply that closely related functionally and genetically. Birds are not mammals, but they are vertebrates. The brainiest vertebrates besides mammals in fact. Some of the more highly developed birds (parrots) indeed possess more neural and cognitve fire power than the least developed mammals (small shrews). This book is important in that it challenges some long held false dogmas of standard biology going back to the dark ages, namely that humans and animals are distinct. Reality check: humans ARE animals. By and large mammals are variations on an homologous theme. Birds, being vertebrates, are highly analogous with, if not homologous in that they are vertebrates with mammals, which are, you guessed it, vertebrates; mammals and birds, two very brainy vertebrates. What does it mean to be a brainy vertebrate? The dogma Dr. Barber imposes on here is that to anthropomorphize is a scientific sin. To anthropomorphize is to assume that one brainy vertebrate could possibly have similar cognitive and emotional experiences as another. Mammals have large brains and can cognize, birds have large brains and can cognize. This isn't an oversimplifying anthropomorphization, it's a fact, it's the scientific identification of a universal. Not only do mammals as a class possess practically identical adreno/hypothalamic hormones and neuropeptides (what defines soul? ask an endocrinologist), but so does the lowly vertebrate the hagfish. No one said it better than the cantankerous genious Schopenhauer, "No one who himself has any intelligence will doubt its existence in the higher animals." After perusing the experimental evidence of the likes of Dr. Pepperberg's Alex, one can hardly doubt the higher intelligence of birds as rivals in neural processing capacity with mammals in the phylum chordata. Let's face it people, intelligence is a function of brains and birds have some significant gray matter relative to the animal kingdom at large. Biologically in fact we may anthropomorphize over the common terms of the subphylum vertebrata and that consciousness derives from brains. Facts long eschewed by anthropocentric metaphysicians, but long overdue in biology as a science. Kudos to Dr. Barber for his bold illumination of these simple biological facts. A helpful reference work for those pursuing cognitition as a hard science.

I can't tell you how glad I am I found this book at a bookstore. I learned so much about birds, other animals and even insects. Reading this book is the first time I really read about Alex the famous African Grey parrot, who is capable of so many things we consider human, such as counting, identifiying colors, shapes, textures, and can request what he wants with sentence as a human can. Not only African Greys are intellegent, this book discusses and gives amazing stories about so many types of birds, from pet budgies to wild birds. I learned facts about avian navigation and body language and their songs. Many facts were brought up about wild birds (and pets) that seemed so human I was amazed. I felt I was really getting an intimate look at the world of birds as I read this book. The author also included a chapter called "Are all animals intellegent?". I was very excited to read this as I learned things about gorillas, chimpanzees, dolphins, whales, and even fish, ants and honeybees that amazed me. There is a very nice set of color photographs in the middle of the book, the first one of a rosella grooming a cockatiel being my favorite. If you love animals or have a curiosity about the intellegence of animals, I highly recommend this book!

I thought this book gave a thorough and accessible overview of Socratic, Platonic, and Aristotelian political philosophy and ethics. The analysis was well structured offering a credibly argued interpretive position on each.

However, one expects the book to concentrate more heavily on the structural comparisons with contemporary normative theory regarding justice/goodness. Whilst the opening chapter promises such, this emphasis is quite absent through the majority of the work. There is argument concerning the anti-subjectivism of the ancient moral conceptions, though this seems rather in the peripheral of the author's vision, than at the central focus of the text.

This book is worth buying for the way in which it summarises recent literature within Ancient Greek moral theory. This is highest calibre exegesis and analysis. In my opinion, it would have been more intellectually interesting (and more aligned to the book title) if the ancient/modern comparison had been explored with more vigour.

I gained much from this book, which was an enjoyable and worthwhile read (despite the numerous typographical errors - which should be corrected in further re-prints).

If you're reading this and you haven't read 'The Pelopponesian War" by Thucydides, stop it, drop it and go get that book. "A History of my Times," more appropriately and originally titled, "Hellenica," is the continuation and final conclusion to the "The Pelopponesian War", a history begun by Thucydides. You know a book is going to be bad, when in the introduction, the translator consistently says, "While not very good..." "Although seemingly flat...", "While his other works shine, this lacks..." If you have read "The Pelopponesian War," you are obligated to read this one, as Thucydides leaves the war unfinished midsentence. While I understand that some of Xenophon's works such as his war journals and such are excellent, swashbuckling reads. His "Hellenica" lacks the grace and inquisitive fire that Thucydides work, "The Pelopponesian War" did. It is a flat, dull read, only rewarding because it tightly ties the loose ends in "The Pelopponesian War." Also Xenophon is a staunch Spartan supporter and tends to ignore Athen's resurgence into power.

Rex Warner's translation of Xenophon's "Hellenica" is quite enjoyable. However, the problem lies with Xenophon's writing. Allegedly a continuation of Thucydides' history of the Peloponnesian War, it is really more of a memoir recounting Spartan triumphs and failures during the period of 400 to 365 BC. Indeed, it should be regarded mainly as Xenophon's apologia on behalf of his Spartan patron, the king Agesilaus. As such it is often plodding reading. It is certainly not as riveting as Xenophon's "Anabasis". Yet those interested in Greek history during this time may find it rewarding.

Xenephon, one of the most interesting figures to come down to us, continues the Peloponesian war (431-404/3) of Thucydides. He covers the last 6-7 years of the war, and some of the history thereafter. If you read Thucydides, you've got to read this book as well. A pretty good translation too!

Dont be confused by the relatively low ranking, this book is good. The only trouble is that it only contains fragments of the greatest historians ever. Though this is what the editor set out to do, you will feel cheated by not having the whole story to read. If all you want is a glimpse at what made the ancient historians so special, this is the book for you. However, chances are that you will want the complete story as well, something this collection cant offer.