The art of war

by Andrew Roberts

Compiled by an exceptionally distinguished team of historians, this title is a magisterial survey of the military giants of the early modern and modern worlds.

Genres: History, Military History, Nonfiction, War, Military Fiction, Medieval, Reference

431 pages, Hardcover

First published August 30, 2008

About the author

Dr Andrew Roberts, who was born in 1963, took a first class honours degree in Modern History at Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge, from where he is an honorary senior scholar and a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD). He has written or edited twelve books, and appears regularly on radio and television around the world. Based in New York, he is an accomplished public speaker, and is represented by HarperCollins Speakers’ Bureau (See Speaking Engagements and Speaking Testimonials). He has recently lectured at Yale, Princeton and Stanford Universities and at the US Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

Reviews

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

A big, thick, coffee table book with short chapters describing the leading military leaders of antiquity. There's a lot for the layperson to learn here, although the content is broad rather than deep. Recommended for history buffs who want an overview of historical figures, but would rather be spared the gory details.

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad book, but it suffers in comparison to its predecessor in that, since it only covers the most recent four centuries instead of two millenia, the authors have to "lower the bar", so to speak, to fill up the book. Still, the format of short chapters dedicated to individual commanders works well for the casual reader.