A simple read, not an eloquent treatise but reasonably informative. The writing style might suit some, and put off others . ( )

Real grognard nerding out. ( )

Was expecting a light and fun read. It was that but also surprisingly informative. Shame about including personal politics in all this. ( )

Great concept -- a nerd (also military officer) with a personal interest in classical history and military re-enactment did research into the specific fighting systems of the Hellenic (Greek) vs. Roman world, including various equipment and TTP changes over time, and then describes the battles where these two systems fought over centuries, using historical sources and evaluating their plausibility based on his personal experience with these systems. The history part was actually excellent, but I found the battles a bit too "play by play" and "thriller" style in description for me, rather than detached historical overview. Still, amazing to have a book where someone who isn't a "professional historian" does a combination of types of research into a very specific point. (Imagine a modern dog breeder or something doing books about fighting dogs of a certain period, or a modern yachtsman researching the specifics of a type of historical sail.) ( )

I know that the author has made a name for himself writing fantasy, but this was better than any fantasy I had read in a long time. As he stated in the beginning, this was a "non-academic" telling of battles that saw the confrontation of Roman and Hellenistic armies. Mr. Cole excelled at this, making the tales of the ancients relateable and easy for the modern reader to understand. Perfection! I see that he is a Goodreads author; so Mr. Cole, please, if you are taking suggestions, please write a book about the Gallic Wars in this fashion. I am looking forward to, hopefully, more nonfiction books by Myke Cole. ( )