Warfare in Antiquity; History of the Art of War, Volume 1

Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press, 1990. 6th Printing, stated. Trade paperback. Good. 604, [4] pages. Highlighting and ink notations to several pages Includes illustrations of the Battle of Marathon; the Battle of Issus; The Battle of Zama-Naraggara; the Battle between Caesar and Ariovistus; Siege of Alesia; and Siege of IIerda. Translator's Foreword. Prefaces to the First, Second and Third Editions. Book I: The Persian Wars, Book II The Greeks at Their Height, Book III: The Madedonians; Book IV: Ancient Rome; Book V: The Second Punic War; Book VI: The Romans as World Conquerors; and Book VII: Caesar. Hans Delbruck's four-volume History of the Art of War is recognized throughout the world as the definitive work on the subject. Appearing in an English-language paperback edition for the first time, volume 1 analyzes in vivid detail the military tactics and strategies used by the great warriors of antiquity. Delbruck disputes some points in classical history, and separated fact from legend in his objective reconstruction of celebrated battles stretching from the Persian Wars to the Peloponnesian War, Alexander's campaign to conquests in Asia, the Second Punic War and Hannibal's crossing of the Alps, and the triumph of the Roman legions and Julius Caesar. Walter J. Renfroe, Jr. based his much-praised English translation on the third (1920) edition of volume 1. Hans Gottlieb Leopold Delbrück (11 November 1848 - 14 July 1929) was a German historian. Delbrück was one of the first modern military historians, basing his method of research on the critical examination of ancient sources, using auxiliary disciplines, like demography and economics, to complete the analysis and the comparison between epochs, to trace the evolution of military institutions. Delbrück's writings are chiefly concerned with the history of the art of war, his most ambitious work being Geschichte der Kriegskunst im Rahmen der politischen Geschichte ("History of Warfare in the Framework of Political History" in four volumes, third edition published in 1920). Other works are Die Perserkriege und die Burgunderkriege (The Persian and Burgundian Wars, 1887), Die Strategie des Perikles erläutert durch die Strategie Friedrichs des Grossen (The Strategy of Pericles Described Through the Strategy of Frederick the Great, 1890) and Das Leben des Feldmarschalls Grafen Neithardt von Gneisenau (Life of Marshal Count Neithardt von Gneisenau, 1894). His singular conclusions on ancient warfare challenged historiography in so far as he tried to show that the figures for armies in antiquity were inflated in the original sources, and that, contrary to what is stated in most writings, the winner in a battle usually had more troops than the loser. Consequently, he gave completely different interpretations to some of the most famous battles in history, like Marathon, Gaugamela, and Zama by concluding that Rome's vaunted advantage over "barbarians" rested, not so much in their discipline and refined tactics, but rather in their superior logistical support. The Romans were able to raise and maintain huge armies on the field, while the "barbarians" were unable to match their numbers.