Anabasis

This is a classic account of the fighting March of approximately 10,000 Greek mercenaries in the early fourth century b.c. to extricate themselves from Artaxerxes (the 2d) and his Persian Empire. They were attempting to assist Cyrus, a brother of Artaxerxes, to obtain the throne of Persia. They achieved a tactical victory at the battle of Cunaxa, near ancient Babylon, but Cyrus was killed and their mission ended, Cyrus being their employer.Though invited by Artaxerxes to join him, they did not trust him and resolved to fight their way back to Greek-controlled territory near the Bosporos Straits. The ensuing campaign reminds one of the US Marines fighting their way from Chosin in the Korean war.The author Xenophon seems to have been an Athenian who had been turned out because of his association with Spartans on the Greek mainland, and seems to have been in fact a soldier of fortune in company with the Greeks, most of whom were Spartans. He was obviously educated and intelligent, became a high ranking officer in the The Greek force, and seems to have exercised overall command near the end of the campaign. It appears that his advice and counsel was that which was most often followed by the Greeks.Alexander the Great is said to have kept a copy of Xenophon'swork ready at hand during his campaign and perused it often. It gave him geographical information as well as instruction in military leadership. It's insights into military analysis and decision-making are probably still relevant today. I recommend it to anyone interested in Alexander and his campaigns.

. . .and the original "trapped behind enemy lines" thriller. It's only when you study ancient history that you realize just how old some of our literary conventions are, and perhaps nowhere is that more true than the "Anabasis."Ten thousand Greek hoplites, hired under false pretenses, find themselves marching to overthrow the King of Kings of the most powerful empire their world had ever known, on behalf of his brother.At Carnaxa, the two armies meet and as the Greeks chant their paean to the gods (the scene as Xenophon describes it is nothing short of cinematic), the shieldwall charges forward, smashing into the Persian host. They win.But. . .their employer manages to get himself killed in the process. So, the Greeks find themselves trapped deep in Persian territory, hundreds of miles from their nearest allies, their generals betrayed and slaughtered. . .with no way out.Or is there?And the "Anabasis" is the story of the march of those Ten Thousand, and the leadership it took to lead them back home. Terrific reading--truly a classic for the ages.

This review applies specifically to the paperback edition, which is very badly formatted. It contains many useful footnotes, rendered into ASCII as [1] and [2] and so on. The actual notes also appear like "[1] ..." at the bottom of some long-ago page (25x80?) which does not correspond to the printed page size. So, some "footnotes" are three lines down, in the middle of the page, while others are half way down the next page.Really terrible. The translation is sort of stiff, but one could deal with that, were it not for the footnotes.

A modern re-titling could be "The Adventures of Xenophon." I've given this 5 stars because the book is unique. It tells the autobiographical tale of Xenophon, then a twenty-something Athenian, student of Socrates, who joined a grand military campaign of Cyrus, son of Darius. Keeping his intentions secret from his ever-growing body of troops, Cyrus's real intention is to de-throne his brother, Artaxerxes II, king of Persia. In the meantime, as he traverses large stretches of land, he engages in various military skirmishes, still keeping his intentions secret from his troops. Finally, once they're "deep in" over a long period of marching and pillaging, the true intent of Cyrus becomes clear.The Persian satrap Tissaphernes has long suspected Cyrus's intentions and believes he means to harm Artaxerxes. Accordingly, provisions have been made to counter Cyrus. The rout is spectacular, Cyrus is killed, the troops are scattered. Leading the Hellenes home over many treacherous miles and through remarkably varied territory (mountainous, plains, frozen, etc.) falls to the young Athenian Xenophon. This is the long retreat.This book is part travelogue: throughout their long trip home they encounter a variety of cultures, including "the most barbaric and outlandish of people" who entertained visitors with exhibitions of their "fatted children" covered in tattoos, "fed up on boiled chestnuts until they were as white as white can be." Xenophon's men discover that this subculture keeps "slices of dolphin....in narrow-necked jars, all properly salted and picked." Near the end of the book, Xenophon's soldiers suffer frostbite and are said to then understand why the Thracian soldiers wore fox fur caps that covered their ears and long garments. And so on.Three-quarters of the way in the book I began to tire of the military strategy details (if you can find a version of this book with maps and diagrams for the battles, I'd recommend that). But the biggest takeaway is the wisdom and toughness of young Xenophon in encountering amazing odds, even, towards the end of the book, the attempted mutiny of some of his men who wrongly accuse him and seek his death. Highly observant, Xenophon is always ahead of those scheming against him.Xenophon finally completes his journey, and is so poor he is forced to sell his prized horse. That's before a dramatic turn of fortune, which I'll leave to the reader to discover.

Excellent Read, Great Value For MoneyAs an avid reader its handy to have your book collection with you. Some books are lacking images but hay that’s why we have imaginations. Overall very pleased.

Nice indeed! Clunky shown by Kindle, but the story is presented simply, and from an historical point of view: it is a delight to know that these words (in Ancient Greek) were read and studied by the youth in schools more than two thousand years ago. And that this story made one Alexander dream... And what a dream he had! What reality he built on it - following this Anabasis story!

An uplifting story of how obstacles can be overcome by grit and determination. And a political tale of how one man can lead his people to salvation and still fall foul of public opinion. And a guide to the mores of the warrior clans of modern day Armenia. And the first time the word "Cenotaph" ("empty tomb") was found in print. The most memorable line of Thalassa, Thalassa! (the sea, the sea!) sums up the relief the Greeks feel when they find their way back to the coastal towns that are their home. Anyone who has spied a Nando's on an empty stomach will know just what they felt.

Great read

Good flowing translation, pagination when reading on the kindle is off, however the footnotes are shown in a different sized font so not a major issue. Waiting for the pun on 'the latter'