New Book on Achaemenid Armies

[Sean Manning]

Why hasn't there been a book on Achaemenid armies and warfare since 1992?  Why do so many of those books focus on Greek texts and art and have little to say about indigenous texts or archaeological finds?  What kinds of thinking and analogies are behind many of the things that most books and chapters agree on?  An all-sources approach has been standard in Roman Army Studies since the 1980s, after all.  I have just published a book which answers these questions

Armed Force in the Teispid-Achaemenid Empire: Past Approaches, Future Prospects contains most of what was in my free-to-read PhD thesis, as well as:

• New material on archaeology, cuneiform and biblical sources, and artwork
  
• English translations of all long quotes from languages other than English
  
• Three maps covering most of the cities and archaeological sites mentioned
  
• Two illustrations of period artwork
  
• Indices of sources cited, words in ancient languages, and people, places, and technical terms
  
• Extensively revised footnotes and bibliography
  

It does not have as many illustrations of archaeological finds and artwork as I would like, and it is not as affordable as something from Osprey or Pen & Sword. But it contains things which are not available anywhere else in English, and many libraries let members suggest books to buy.

You can find more information at http://www.steiner-verlag.de/titel/9783515127752.html

[Michael J. Taylor]

Looks fascinating! Can't wait to read it--congrats!

[Sean Manning]

Thanks Michael! I hope people find it helpful, and that sales reach three figures.

[PygmyHippo]

Sean, I couldn't tell from the site and maybe you can clear it up for me. If I purchase the hard copy of the book does that also include a copy of the ebook, or do I have to purchase them separately? Thanks.

Marcus

[Sean Manning]

Hi Joe,

I poked around, and I think they sell the eBook separately for full price (or license it to libraries under special terms). Unfortunately, I don't have much control over the prices. Email sent.

There is a PDF sample chapter to download under the button labeled "Probekapitel."