Long considered the most essential treatise on military strategy and tactics, The Art of War comprises thirteen chapters, each dedicated to a different aspect of warfare. Reaching far beyond the battlefield, it is a manifesto for success in every kind of conflict or competition, having had a notable influence on various subjects such as law, sports, and interpersonal relationships.In this definitive 1910 Lionel Giles translation, the celebrated sinologist’s interpretive notes and valuable commentary make clear the nuances of Sun Tzu’s language. Most critical, Giles provides the context and culture from which the general’s theories emerged.Revised edition: Previously published as The Art of War, this edition of The Art of War (AmazonClassics Edition) includes editorial revisions. Read more

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From Tom Holland, co-host of the hit podcast THE REST IS HISTORY, comes a "fresh...thrilling" (The Guardian) account of the Graeco-Persian Wars.In the fifth century B.C., a global superpower was determined to bring truth and order to what it regarded as two terrorist states. The superpower was Persia, incomparably rich in ambition, gold, and men. The terrorist states were Athens and Sparta, eccentric cities in a poor and mountainous backwater: Greece.The story of how their citizens took on the Great King of Persia, and thereby saved not only themselves but Western civilization as well, is as heart-stopping and fateful as any episode in history. Tom Holland’s brilliant study of these critical Persian Wars skillfully examines a conflict of critical importance to both ancient and modern history. Read more

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From Tom Holland, co-host of the hit podcast THE REST IS HISTORY, a vivid historical account of the social world of Rome as it moved from republic to empire.“A fascinating picture of Roman city life. . . . In every aspect of this story, Holland expertly makes the Romans, so alien and yet so familiar, relevant to us.” –Los Angeles Times“Stunning. . . . Holland keeps his narrative moving at chariot-race speed.” –Newsday In 49 B.C., the seven hundred fifth year since the founding of Rome, Julius Caesar crossed a small border river called the Rubicon and plunged Rome into cataclysmic civil war. Tom Holland’s enthralling account tells the story of Caesar’s generation, witness to the twilight of the Republic and its bloody transformation into an empire. From Cicero, Spartacus, and Brutus, to Cleopatra, Virgil, and Augustus, here are some of the most legendary figures in history brought thrillingly to life. Combining verve and freshness with scrupulous scholarship, Rubicon is not only an engrossing history of this pivotal era but a uniquely resonant portrait of a great civilization in all its extremes of self-sacrifice and rivalry, decadence and catastrophe, intrigue, war, and world-shaking ambition. Read more

“A skilled storyteller…Holmes presents a riveting account of Rome’s decline” Kirkus ReviewsAttila is a household name. But his true character and impact on the Roman Empire have always remained elusive. Until now.In the first major work written about Attila in decades, Nick Holmes rewrites the story of Attila and Rome. Contrary to his brutal legend, Attila was a complex and captivating personality. A great warlord who despised ostentation, admired bravery and valued loyalty.He led his steppe nomads further west than Genghis Khan or Tamerlane. He nearly destroyed the Roman Empire. But his vast ambition undid him. This book is a must read for those interested in Rome, the Huns and military history.This is the third volume in Nick Holmes’ series on The Fall of the Roman Empire. The first volume, The Roman Revolution, covers the little known ‘crisis of the third century’ when barbarian invasions nearly destroyed classical Rome and led to a revolution in Roman government, the army and religion, including the extraordinary growth of Christianity. The second volume, The Fall of Rome, covers the barbarian invasions of the western half of the empire, culminating in the sack of Rome itself by the Goths in AD 410. Further volumes will continue Rome's turbulent history, from its revival under the emperor Justinian to the rise of Islam, the beginnings of Byzantium and the dawn of the Middle Ages. Read more

The true history behind the hit HBO fantasy show and George R. R. Martin’s bestselling Fire and Ice series.   A wall in the distant north cuts the world in two. Ruthless sea-born warriors raid the coasts from their war galleys. A young nobleman and his kin are slaughtered under a banner of truce within a mighty castle. A warrior king becomes a legend when he smites his foe with one swing of his axe during a nation-forging battle. Yet this isn’t Westeros—it’s Scotland.  Game of Thrones is history re-imagined as fantasy. The History Behind Game of Thrones turns the tables, using George R. R. Martin’s extraordinary fictional universe as a way to understand the driving forces and defining moments from Scotland’s story. Why were castles so important? Was there a limit to the powers a medieval king could use—or abuse? What was the reality of being under siege? Was there really anything that can compare to the destructive force of dragons? By joining forces, Westeros and Scotland hold the answers.   Writer and presenter David C. Weinczok draws on a vast array of characters, events, places, and themes from Scottish history that echo Game of Thrones at every dramatic turn. Visit the castle where the real Red Wedding transpired, encounter the fearsome historical tribes beyond Rome’s great wall, learn how a blood-red heart became the most feared sigil in Scotland, and much more.   By journey’s end, the cogs in the wheels of Martin’s world and Scottish history will be laid bare, as well as the stories of those who tried to shape—and sometimes even break—them. Read more

From the creator of the award-winning podcast series The History of Rome and Revolutions comes the "remarkably engaging" (Washington Post) history of the bloody battles, political machinations, and human drama that set the stage for the fall of the Roman Republic. The Roman Republic was one of the most remarkable achievements in the history of civilization. Beginning as a small city-state in central Italy, Rome gradually expanded into a wider world filled with petty tyrants, barbarian chieftains, and despotic kings. Through the centuries, Rome's model of cooperative and participatory government remained remarkably durable and unmatched in the history of the ancient world. In 146 BC, Rome finally emerged as the strongest power in the Mediterranean. But the very success of the Republic proved to be its undoing. The republican system was unable to cope with the vast empire Rome now ruled: rising economic inequality disrupted traditional ways of life, endemic social and ethnic prejudice led to clashes over citizenship and voting rights, and rampant corruption and ruthless ambition sparked violent political clashes that cracked the once indestructible foundations of the Republic. Chronicling the years 146-78 BC, The Storm Before the Storm dives headlong into the first generation to face this treacherous new political environment. Abandoning the ancient principles of their forbearers, men like Marius, Sulla, and the Gracchi brothers set dangerous new precedents that would start the Republic on the road to destruction and provide a stark warning about what can happen to a civilization that has lost its way. Read more

A “compelling, thought-provoking and entertaining history” of Hadrian’s Wall, one of Britain’s most intriguing landmarks (Herald). Hadrian’s Wall is the largest and one of the most enigmatic historical monuments in Britain. Nothing else approaches its vast scale: a land wall running seventy-three miles from east to west and a sea wall stretching at least twenty-six miles down the Cumbrian coast. Many of its forts are as large as Britain’s most formidable medieval castles, and the wide ditch dug to the south of the Wall, the vallum, is larger than any surviving prehistoric earthwork. Built in a ten-year period by more than thirty thousand soldiers and laborers at the behest of an extraordinary emperor, the Wall consisted of more than twenty-four million stones, giving it a mass greater than all the Egyptian pyramids put together. At least a million people visit Hadrian’s Wall each year, and it has been designated a World Heritage Site. In this book, based on literary and historical sources as well as the latest archaeological research, Alistair Moffat considers who built the Wall, how it was built, why it was built, and how it affected the native peoples who lived in its mighty shadow. The result is a unique and fascinating insight into one of the wonders of the ancient world. “Wonderfully entertaining.” —The Independent Read more

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERBest Books of 2023: New Yorker, The Economist, SmithsonianMost Anticipated Books of Fall: Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, TODAY, Literary Hub, and Publishers Weekly"A vivid way to re-examine what we know, and don’t, about life at the top.... Emperor of Rome is a masterly group portrait, an invitation to think skeptically but not contemptuously of a familiar civilization." —Kyle Harper, Wall Street JournalA sweeping account of the social and political world of the Roman emperors by “the world’s most famous classicist” (Guardian). In her international bestseller SPQR, Mary Beard told the thousand-year story of ancient Rome, from its slightly shabby Iron Age origins to its reign as the undisputed hegemon of the Mediterranean. Now, drawing on more than thirty years of teaching and writing about Roman history, Beard turns to the emperors who ruled the Roman Empire, beginning with Julius Caesar (assassinated 44 BCE) and taking us through the nearly three centuries—and some thirty emperors—that separate him from the boy-king Alexander Severus (assassinated 235 CE).Yet Emperor of Rome is not your typical chronological account of Roman rulers, one emperor after another: the mad Caligula, the monster Nero, the philosopher Marcus Aurelius. Instead, Beard asks different, often larger and more probing questions: What power did emperors actually have? Was the Roman palace really so bloodstained? What kind of jokes did Augustus tell? And for that matter, what really happened, for example, between the emperor Hadrian and his beloved Antinous? Effortlessly combining the epic with the quotidian, Beard tracks the emperor down at home, at the races, on his travels, even on his way to heaven.Along the way, Beard explores Roman fictions of imperial power, overturning many of the assumptions that we hold as gospel, not the least of them the perception that emperors one and all were orchestrators of extreme brutality and cruelty. Here Beard introduces us to the emperor’s wives and lovers, rivals and slaves, court jesters and soldiers, and the ordinary people who pressed begging letters into his hand—whose chamber pot disputes were adjudicated by Augustus, and whose budgets were approved by Vespasian, himself the son of a tax collector.With its finely nuanced portrayal of sex, class, and politics, Emperor of Rome goes directly to the heart of Roman fantasies (and our own) about what it was to be Roman at its richest, most luxurious, most extreme, most powerful, and most deadly, offering an account of Roman history as it has never been presented before. Read more

A New York Times–bestselling historian charts how and why societies from ancient Greece to the modern era chose to utterly destroy their foes, and warns that similar wars of obliteration are possible in our time War can settle disputes, topple tyrants, and bend the trajectory of civilization—sometimes to the breaking point. From Troy to Hiroshima, moments when war has ended in utter annihilation have reverberated through the centuries, signaling the end of political systems, cultures, and epochs. Though much has changed over the millennia, human nature remains the same. Modern societies are not immune from the horror of a war of extinction.    In The End of Everything, military historian Victor Davis Hanson narrates a series of sieges and sackings that span the age of antiquity to the conquest of the New World to show how societies descend into barbarism and obliteration. In the stories of Thebes, Carthage, Constantinople, and Tenochtitlan, he depicts war’s drama, violence, and folly. Highlighting the naivete that plagued the vanquished and the wrath that justified mass slaughter, Hanson delivers a sobering call to contemporary readers to heed the lessons of obliteration lest we blunder into catastrophe once again.  Read more

Uncover the Secrets, Spectacles, and Scandals of Ancient RomeWhat made Rome rise from a simple settlement to one of the most powerful empires in history — and what caused its fall? This captivating 4-in-1 collection dives deep into the drama, glory, and grit of Roman life.From the thunder of gladiator battles to the eerie stillness of Pompeii’s final moments, every page brings history to life like never before. Whether you’re a casual reader or a history enthusiast, this book offers a front-row seat to the events, people, and places that shaped the Roman world — and our own.Four manuscripts in one book:The Romans: A Captivating Guide to the People, Emperors, Soldiers and Gladiators of Ancient Rome, Starting from the Roman Republic through the Roman Empire to the Byzantine EmpireThe Roman Games: A Captivating Guide to the Gladiators, Chariot Races, and Games in Ancient RomePompeii: A Captivating Guide to the City in Ancient Rome That Was Buried Because of the Eruption of Mount Vesuvius during the Rule of the Roman EmpireThe Colosseum: A Captivating Guide to an Icon of Ancient Rome Known for Hosting Roman Gladiator Battles and Public SpectaclesHere’s just a glimpse of what you’ll discover inside:The shocking truth behind Rome’s most feared legions — and the rare moments they were defeatedWhat really happened the night Rome burned under Emperor Nero’s watchGladiators, chariot racers, beast hunters, and even female fighters who risked everything for gloryHow the Colosseum wowed the masses with 100 days of unforgettable gamesPompeii’s chilling final hours, revealed through gripping reconstructions and first-hand accountsAncient graffiti, political power plays, and the ingenious systems that kept Rome runningWhy Roman citizens craved “bread and circuses” — and how it changed their empire foreverHidden truths about Constantine’s game-changing rule and the rise of ConstantinopleAnd much more!Whether you’re fascinated by Roman emperors, intrigued by lost cities, or just want a richer understanding of the past, this collection delivers bold insights in a visually stunning package you won’t want to put down.Add to cart now and step into the thrilling world of Ancient Rome. Read more

The Holy Land – AD 1177 After his magnificent victory over the Saracens at Montgisard, King Baldwin takes the opportunity to start building a massive fortress overlooking Jacob’s Ford, the main crossing point over the River Jordan. Garrisoned with Templar knights and stronger than any other castle in the Outremer, the fortress is designed to be impregnable and set to dominate the lands north of the Sea of Galilee for generations. Within a year, the magnificent castle starts to rise high above Jacob’s Ford, a terrifying statement designed to strike fear and awe into the hearts of any man. It is an unparalleled declaration of domination by the Christian king and confirmation to all his enemies that the path to Jerusalem is permanently closed. But deep in the forests of Banias, the warring Saracen tribes have finally combined, knowing that if they allow the fortress to remain unchallenged, the Christians would dominate the Holy Land for generations. Only one man could lead them to victory and his war banners were already flying throughout the east. Salah ad-Din, Sultan of all Syria and Egypt had returned, and he had sworn upon his life that no matter what the cost, …the castle would fall… Read more

This “encyclopedic [volume] collects pretty much every fact known about what it was like to be in the military arm of the Roman Empire" (The New York Times Book Review). The Roman army was the greatest fighting machine in the ancient world. It was also the single largest organization in Western antiquity, taking in members from all classes, from senators to freed slaves. The Roman Empire depended on its army not just to win wars, defend its frontiers, and control the seas, but to act as the very engine of the state. In Gladius—the Latin word for sword—Guy De la Bédoyère reveals what it meant to be a soldier in the army that made the empire. Surveying numerous aspects of Roman military life between 264 BCE and 337 CE, De la Bédoyère draws not only on the words of famed Roman historians, but also those of the soldiers themselves, as recorded in their religious dedications, tombstones, and even private letters and graffiti. He vividly recreates their everyday lives, whether in a bleak frontier garrison in Britain or North Africa, guarding the emperor in Rome, fighting on foreign battlefields, mutinying over pay, marching in triumph, throwing their weight around on city streets, or enjoying honorable retirement. By illuminating the history of one organization that reflected all corners of the Roman world, Gladius gives us a portrait of an ancient society that is unprecedented in both its broad sweep and gritty intimacy. Read more

"An intense, action-packed story that will have you hooked from the moment you start reading it." - Reader's Favorite.Hispania, 704 AD. When young Pelayo, the rebellious illegitimate son of the Duke of Asturias, is tasked with hunting down a party of Saracens raiders, he seizes on the chance to escape the city and the scandals that have swirled around him for years. As he follows the trail of devastation left by the raiders, he learns that Valentina, the headstrong daughter of his father's closest ally and his hated half-brother's betrothed has been taken captive.As Pelayo leads his cohort toward the eastern coast, the sudden death of the king in Toledo unravels old alliances and sparks a fierce competition for the throne. As the kingdom descends into civil war, the ambitious Saracen governor, Musa Ibn Nosseyr, sees the Iberian nation's troubles as the perfect opportunity to expand the reach of the caliphate into the underbelly of Europe.Based on historical figures and events, The Saracen Storm is the sweeping saga of one of Spain's best-loved heroes and the role he played during the nation's darkest period: the Moorish invasion of its lands in 711 AD.Critical Reviews"The writing is excellent, the prose delectable... It makes for an enjoyable read. Pelayo is a sophisticated character and his character arc defines his development in this beautifully written conflict. The action is strong, and the plot ingeniously done to excite the curiosity of the reader. For those who love adventure and narratives filled with intrigue and surprises, The Saracen Storm will make for a delightful read." - Christian Sia, Critic for Readers' Favorite. Five Stars Review."The book got me from its opening pages. The author does an impeccable job of exploring the political climate of the times. The characters are grounded in history, each written with enough background to augment the sophistication. It takes a skillful author to meld elements of fiction with history and Jose Nunez has that gift. The Saracen Storm is written in beautiful prose and has very strong plot points. This is a historical novel that transports the reader back in time and that brings history alive in their imagination. A balanced, deftly narrated and engaging read." - Tomual Dzemo, critic for Readers' Favorite. 5 Stars Review."This is an intense, action-packed story. The narrative is perfect, the flow is simple yet powerful. This is an entertaining story, one that will have you hooked from the moment you start reading it." - Rabia Tanveer, critic for Readers' Favorite. 5 Stars. Read more

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Brings to life “a major figure in the Hellenistic World . . . in his own right, rather than as just another stepping stone during Rome’s rise” (HistoryOfWar.org). The second volume in John Grainger’s history of the Seleukid Empire is devoted to the reign of Antiochus III. Too often remembered only as the man who lost to the Romans at Magnesia, Antiochus is here revealed as one of the most powerful and capable rulers of the age. Having emerged from civil war in 223 as the sole survivor of the Seleukid dynasty, he shouldered the burdens of a weakened and divided realm. Though defeated by Egypt in the Fourth Syrian War, he gradually restored full control over the empire. His great Eastern campaign took Macedonian arms back to India for the first time since Alexander’s day and, returning west, he went on to conquer Thrace and finally wrest Syria from Ptolemaic control.  Then came intervention in Greece and the clash with Rome leading to the defeat at Magnesia and the restrictive Peace of Apamea. Despite this, Antiochus remained ambitious, campaigning in the East again; when he died in 187 BC the empire was still one of the most powerful states in the world.   “We are, Grainger says, so ‘hypnotised’ by the rise of Rome that we ignore the Seleukid and Ptolemaic interlude. His clear and fascinating account breaks this spell.”—Minerva Magazine Read more

The year is 68 A.D., and the vast Roman Empire is in chaos. Provinces are in rebellion, while Emperor Nero struggles to maintain the remnants of his political power, as well as his last shreds of sanity. In the province of Hispania, the governor, Servius Sulpicius Galba, marches on Rome. In his despair, Nero commits suicide. Galba, the first Emperor of Rome from outside the Julio-Claudian Dynasty, is at first viewed as a liberator, yet he soon proves to be a merciless despot, alienating even those closest to him. A member of the imperial court, and former favorite of Nero, Marcus Salvius Otho seeks to become the childless Galba’s successor. When he is snubbed for another of the new emperor’s favorites, Otho decides to take the mantle of Caesar by force. At the same time, the governor of Germania, Aulus Vitellius, is proclaimed emperor by his legions, leading Rome into civil war. In the east, the empire’s fiercest general, Flavius Vespasian, has been embroiled in suppressing the rebellion in Judea over the last two years. With nearly one third of the entire Roman Army under his command, he wields formidable power. At first attempting to stay above the fray, and with the empire fracturing into various alliances, Rome’s most loyal soldier may soon be compelled to put an end to the Reign of the Tyrants. Read more

Telling the story of a man who stood against the overwhelming power of the mighty Roman empire, Hannibal is the biography of a man who, against all odds, dared to change the course of history. Over two thousand years ago one of the greatest military leaders in history almost destroyed Rome. Hannibal, a daring African general from the city of Carthage, led an army of warriors and battle elephants over the snowy Alps to invade the very heart of Rome's growing empire. But what kind of person would dare to face the most relentless imperial power of the ancient world? How could Hannibal, consistently outnumbered and always deep in enemy territory, win battle after battle until he held the very fate of Rome within his grasp? Hannibal appeals to many as the ultimate underdog—a Carthaginian David against the Goliath of Rome—but it wasn't just his genius on the battlefield that set him apart. As a boy and then a man, his self-discipline and determination were legendary. As a military leader, like Alexander the Great before him and Julius Caesar after, he understood the hearts of men and had an uncanny ability to read the unseen weaknesses of his enemy. As a commander in war, Hannibal has few equals in history and has long been held as a model of strategic and tactical genius. But Hannibal was much more than just a great general. He was a practiced statesman, a skilled diplomat, and a man deeply devoted to his family and country.  Roman historians—on whom we rely for almost all our information on Hannibal—portray him as a cruel barbarian, but how does the story change if we look at Hannibal from the Carthaginian point of view? Can we search beneath the accounts of Roman writers who were eager to portray Hannibal as a monster and find a more human figure? Can we use the life of Hannibal to look at the Romans themselves in an unfamiliar way— not as the noble and benign defenders of civilization but as ruthless conquerors motivated by greed and conquest? Read more

Summer 261 AD. The Roman empire lies divided. Threatened on all sides by barbarian invasion and wracked by internal rebellions. The light of civilisation burns low. The forces loyal to emperor Gallienus are overstretched, their morale low as they do what they can to hold the empire together knowing that the final triumph of anarchy is close.Promoted to prefect of the newly formed cavalry ala, the equites foederati Germanica, Corbulo has little time to prepare his men for action. Trouble is brewing along the Danube frontier where the Germanic Quadi are once again on the move. While from the East the Macriani usurpers are advancing towards Italy, determined to challenge emperor Gallienus's power.Thrown into the desperate battle to save what remains of the empire, Corbulo and his ala are soon embroiled in the fight of their lives. Alone, outnumbered and far from home their task is complicated by treachery and division. But that is not the only challenge facing Corbulo. For from their hidden places across the empire, a new religion is rising that threatens to undo everything. Read more