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Review of \"Die römische Armee im Experiment\"
#1
I wrote a review of Christian Koepfer, Florian Himmler and Josef Löffl (eds.), Die römische Armee im Experiment (2011). I liked it very much, and you can read the part that contains the summary here. I have framed it in a wider context about the relation between humanities and audience; the larger article starts here.
Jona Lendering
Relevance is the enemy of history
My website
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#2
Excellent review Jona, I'm going to put it on my list.
Robert Vermaat
MODERATOR
FECTIO Late Romans
THE CAUSE OF WAR MUST BE JUST
(Maurikios-Strategikon, book VIII.2: Maxim 12)
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#3
Will there be an English or French version of this book?
aka T*O*N*G*A*R
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#4
Unless we find someone who does a decent translation for free and pays the publication costs, I am afraid that not.
Christian K.

No reconstruendum => No reconstruction.

Ut desint vires, tamen est laudanda voluntas.
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#5
Quote:Unless we find someone who does a decent translation for free and pays the publication costs, I am afraid that not.

Well, this is unfortunate for those of us who must admit (shamefacedly) that we are 'language challenged.'

Of course, a good translation takes time and costs money.

I was asked to review the manuscript for a book of Japanese puppet plays, due for publication later this year, translated by a grad school professor of mine. I was but one of four who reviewed the manuscript for accuracy, language, history, etc. So getting it "right" takes time and effort. I can only guess that a technical topic like the Roman Army would compound the difficulty of translation and the need for a complete and expert review by several experts.

That said ...

I find it hard to believe that there would not be a market for such a translation into English. Indeed, a big enough market to justify the cost and the time.

Then again ...

Knowing the trouble Jona Landering has encountered attempting to find a translator / publisher for his book Common Errors about the Ancient World (which seems like an obvious book to publish for the US market) I am not surprised (though disappointed) that there are no plans for a translation.

Perhaps, if AW Magazine continues to flourish, there will be money and interest in bringing to market English tranlations of this and other key books about the Roman Army. A long shot perhaps, but I remain hopeful. :?

Narukami
David Reinke
Burbank CA
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#6
Generally speaking, the English/American market is not very open for translations. One reason is that it is a very great market; it is unlikely that a book in a foreign language is not more or less the double of an already existing book. This may sometimes mean that a good English book blocks the translation of a better foreign book.

Another reason appears to be the cost of the translation. I have been told that in the Anglo-Saxon system, the translator has to take all risk for himself, and takes the profits. But how large will those be, when the author is not already well-known?

So, if Christian wants to reach out to the Anglo-Saxon world, he needs to become famous first. Win the Nobel Prize for Literatur or something like that. That cannot be too difficult, because it is always awarded to completely unknown Polish poets. :wink:
Jona Lendering
Relevance is the enemy of history
My website
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#7
I will publish some of our results in Ancient Warfare Magazine in the near future, so those will be in English. :-)

Here´s a new review, although I like Jona´s much better :-) The reviewer in some cases has not understood what the actual questions were we worked on. But it is quite posistive, still :-D

http://hsozkult.geschichte.hu-berlin.de/...2012-2-079
Christian K.

No reconstruendum => No reconstruction.

Ut desint vires, tamen est laudanda voluntas.
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