Sheldon: "Rome\'s Wars in Parthia"

[Nathan Ross]

Has anyone seen this one? Published back in January:

Rome's Wars in Parthia: Blood in the Sand

The author appears to be a US army colonel and head of the Department of History at Virginia Military Institute; her previous books deal with Roman and 'Biblical' espionage activities.

The front flap (from the Amazon preview) states that "there has been no detailed study of the individual wars Rome fought against Parthia from the military perspective'. Not sure if this is true, but it would be an interesting book, perhaps, if it aimed to do that. There would seem, however, to be a pretty heavy focus on comparison between Roman invasions of Parthia and the 2003 invasion of Iraq - not a massively useful approach, IMO!

The index lists 'Archeological evidence' only once, but 'Saddam Hussein' twice. Also 'Rumsfeld, Donald', 'Political influence operations' and 'Full-spectrum dominance' (whatever they might be!). Rather suggestive of :x

Still - initial impression might be wrong...

- Nathan

[Gaius Julius Caesar]

Yes, I am partially through it , but have been side tracked to a couple of other books too.
Those comparisons to modern events kind of distract from the book to start with, but overall, the
effect is minimal.
While I haven't finished it, it certainly covers the issues in a well thought out way, and in great detail.
Very informative I would say(but then I would, not being an expert on the subject.
Will add a couple of thoughts once I get back to it though..will probably start over from the start.

[Paul Elliott]

Can it come close to the wonderfully evocative and thoroughly readable 'Rome on the Euphrates' by the 1930s travel writer/historian Freya Stark?

[Gaius Julius Caesar]

I don't know, but it is informative. It certainly is helping to fill in some large gaps in my knowledge.
But I have to admit, that would not be dificult.......