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The Bronze Lie
- Narrated by: Alexander Cendese
- Length: 16 hrs and 15 mins
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Publisher's summary
The story of the Spartans is one of the best known in history, from their rigorous training to their dramatic feats of arms - but is that portrait of Spartan supremacy true? Renowned novelist and popular historian Myke Cole goes back to the original sources to set the record straight.
The Spartan hoplite enjoys unquestioned currency as history's greatest fighting man. Raised from the age of seven in the agoge, a military academy legendary for its harshness, Spartan men were brought up to value loyalty to the polis (the city-state) above all else, and to prize obedience to orders higher than their own lives. The last stand at Thermopylae made the Spartans legends in their own time, famous for their brevity and their ability to endure hardship, to control their emotions, and to never surrender - even in the face of impossible odds, even when it meant their certain deaths.
But was this reputation earned? Or was it simply the success of a propaganda machine that began turning at Thermopylae in 480 BC? Examining the historical record, both literary and material, paints a very different picture of Spartan arms - a society dedicated to militarism not in service to Greek unity or to the Spartan state itself, but as a desperate measure intended to keep its massive population of helots (a near-slave underclass) in line, forcing them to perform the mundane work of farming, cleaning, building and crafting to permit the dandified Spartan citizens (spartiatai) the time they needed to focus on their military training.
Covering Sparta's full classical history, The Bronze Lie examines the myth of Spartan warrior supremacy against the historical record, delving into the minutiae of Spartan warfare from arms and armor to tactics and strategy. With a special focus on previously under-publicized Spartan reverses that have been left largely unexamined, it looks at the major battles as well as reexamining major Spartan "victories". Most importantly, it reexamines Thermopylae itself, a propaganda victory utterly out of proportion to its actual impact - a defeat that wasn't even accomplished by 300 Spartans, but rather by thousands of allied Greeks, all for the net effect of barely slowing a Persian advance that went on to roam Greece unchecked and destroy Athens itself.
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The Great Commanders is a masterly portrait of six men - Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Horatio Nelson, Napoleon Bonaparte, Ulysses S. Grant and Georgi Zhukov - whose military genius changed the course of world history.
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Broad, and High Level History
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The Fall of Carthage
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The struggle between Rome and Carthage in the Punic Wars was arguably the greatest and most desperate conflict of antiquity. The forces involved and the casualties suffered by both sides were far greater than in any wars fought before the modern era, while the eventual outcome had far-reaching consequences for the history of the Western World, namely the ascendancy of Rome. An epic of war and battle, this is also the story of famous generals and leaders: Hannibal, Fabius Maximus, Scipio Africanus, and his grandson Scipio Aemilianus, who would finally bring down the walls of Carthage.
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Captivating
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Published to coincide with Marathon's 2500th anniversary, a riveting history of the historic battle. The Battle of Marathon in 490 B.C. is not only understood as the most decisive event in the struggle between the Greeks and the Persians, but can also be seen as perhaps the most significant moment in our collective history. 10,000 Athenian citizens faced a Persian military force of more than 25,000.
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Effectively evokes the world of ancient greece
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Legion versus Phalanx
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From the time of Ancient Sumeria, the heavy infantry phalanx dominated the battlefield. Armed with spears or pikes, standing shoulder to shoulder with shields interlocking, the men of the phalanx presented an impenetrable wall of wood and metal to the enemy. Until, that is, the Roman legion emerged to challenge them as masters of infantry battle.
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I might be a niche market for this but I loved it
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At the bloody battle of Cannae, he trounced a Roman army twice the size of his own. With his brothers, he subdued nearly all of Italy, Spain and Northern Africa. A cunning tactician, he secured victory for Bithynia at sea by catapulting poisonous snakes onto the decks of his enemy’s ships. Biographer Ernle Bradford draws on the historical writings of Livy, Polybius, Plutarch and others in re-creating the fantastic story of the greatest general since Alexander the Great.
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Perfect Balance of Narrative and Analysis
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Examining nine landmark battles from ancient to modern times - from Salamis, where outnumbered Greeks devastated the slave army of Xerxes, to Cortes' conquest of Mexico to the Tet offensive - Victor Davis Hanson explains why the armies of the West have been the most lethal and effective of any fighting forces in the world. Looking beyond popular explanations such as geography or superior technology, Hanson argues that it is in fact Western culture and values which have consistently produced superior arms and soldiers.
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Wow! This truly is a great book. A rarity!
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Prominent military historian Victor Davis Hanson explores the nature of leadership with his usual depth and vivid prose in The Savior Generals, a set of brilliantly executed pocket biographies of five generals (Themistocles, Belisarius, William Tecumseh Sherman, Matthew Ridgway, and David Petraeus) who single-handedly saved their nations from defeat in war. War is rarely a predictable enterprise - it is a mess of luck, chance, and incalculable variables. Today's sure winner can easily become tomorrow's doomed loser.
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A good history book tells about human nature.
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Hannibal
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One of the greatest commanders of the ancient world brought vividly to life: Hannibal, the brilliant general who successfully crossed the Alps with his war elephants and brought Rome to its knees. Hannibal Barca of Carthage, born 247 BC, was one of the great generals of the ancient world. Historian Patrick N. Hunt has led archaeological expeditions in the Alps and elsewhere to study Hannibal's achievements. Now he brings Hannibal's incredible story to life in this riveting and dramatic audiobook.
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A monotone mundane narration
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Whether it is Hannibal of Carthage marching elephants across the Alps and attacking the heart of Rome, Khalid ibn al-Walid boasting an undefeated military career and destroying the Persian Empire while subduing the Byzantines, or Russian General Alexander Suvurov and his elevation of the bayonet to a work of art that could cut down any European army, great military leaders have exerted tremendous influence on society. This book will look at the lives of the 10 greatest military commanders in history.
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Great Book
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For the first time, By the Spear offers an exhilarating military narrative of the reigns of these two larger-than-life figures in one volume. Ian Worthington gives full breadth to the careers of father and son, showing how Philip was the architect of the Macedonian empire, which reached its zenith under Alexander, only to disintegrate upon his death.
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Bueller..... Bueller...... Bueller...... Monotone
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More than 2,500 years ago, a confederation of small Greek city-states defeated the invading armies of Persia, the most powerful empire in the world. In this meticulously researched study, historian Paul Rahe argues that Sparta was responsible for the initial establishment of the Hellenic defensive coalition and was, in fact, the most essential player in its ultimate victory.
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Excellent Investigation Undermined by Bad Editing
- By Richard on 02-12-16
By: Paul A. Rahe
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What listeners say about The Bronze Lie
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Amazon Customer
- 06-22-23
From a veterans point of view
How better to hear about this very deep and influential subject than from an actual vet?
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- Scott Sigler
- 10-18-21
Fascinating analysis of actual history
So much of the legend of Sparta is shaped by pop culture. The historical record, as studied by the author of this book, shows a vastly more complex and fascinating culture.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Ryan
- 07-26-23
He hates Spartans, Religion, Republicans, readers
First, I want to say that I have often felt the legends about the Spartans were mostly propaganda and agree that they often didn't perform to the level of their hype. I also agree that they often did dumb or perhaps cowardly/selfish things. I also don't love their culture of slaves, etc.
However, I have some major issues with this book and the authors crusade to correct this horrible lie that somehow makes modern Republicans evil, etc. I really enjoyed his Legion vs. Phanlanx book, though I never got the definitive point he thought he made about the Legion's superiority. But now, after reading this book, it has tainted my views on his arguments in that book as well in that I now can clearly see his disdain for things he doesn't like. I still like that book but not as much after reading this book and I probably won't read anything else he puts out.
Now to specifics:
1. He hates his audience:
In the intro, he goes out of his way to insult USA conservatives generally and their intelligence and integrity. I don't see how a love of legendary heroes (based on fact or fiction) or enjoyment of epic battles and action movies has any bearing on politics unless he is trying to perpetuate a biased and largely untrue characature of warmongering conservatives clinging to their guns and bibles cheering every splash of blood in media and real life. He also treats the Greeks' religious beliefs as utter rubbish. He doesn't have to believe they are true to respect the fact that they actually believed things. And he tangentially seems to disdain all religious beliefs. I don't know his religious or political beliefs but he seems to knowingly disparage the religious and political beliefs of the majority of his audience who would find this subject fascinating and it appears that this is on purpose to "correct" their misguided ideas that somehow are related to the myth of Spartan invincibility.
2. He always assumes the worst given any choice at all. I'm not saying he doesn't have some justification for many of his interpretations of events but seems to make this a holy crusade of why we should not only stop believing the myth about Spartans but also that they were the worst and most vile and most pathetic warriors even when he grudgingly mentions that they probably could do some things well.
3. Some of the things the Spartans were famous for are precisely the things criticized by the author, such as their stoic and stubborn resolve to fight a certain way even when it was foolish to do so. I don't recall it ever being part of their legend that they had great tactics or siege abilities or that they were flexible and adaptive. I think everyone knows they were supposed to just be really disciplined and able to fight well in a phalanx. they also possibly performed well in the Olympics and stuff, which might have helped bolster their image. No one said they always fought like Alexander or Hannibal. I think the fact that they were able to control a large faction of Greeks and were selected to manage the war against Persia is very telling even if it wasn't wholly justified by their historical military performance and their unwillingness to help when it really mattered.
Finally, he does make a lot of good points and valid arguments, so if it weren't for the above issues, I would have very much liked and appreciated this book.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Ryan Young
- 09-03-24
Narrator needs a pronunciation guide
The narrator's creativity in finding ways to mispronounce well-known names and places is maddening. Good book, bad narration. For example: Agesilaus, correctly pronounced Agg-ess-ill-ay-us, is in the narrator's vivid imagination Age-iss-louse. It took me a bit to figure out who he was talking about. Considering how often Agesilaus is mentioned, this makes for a frustrating listen.
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- Kindle Customer
- 09-20-21
exhaustive & slanted
this does exhaustively go through the issue of if the Spartans were the warfighters of their reputation. but the author chooses only to believe the sources that support his pov. he keeps asserting no one ever did stupid things tactically. to which I say -- Pickett's charge in the civil war and the repeated charges in WWI in trench warfare. his dislike of modern use of the myth of sparta by a political group he dislikes ( other unnecessary comments throughout show this) is evident in his " moron" chapter. apparently he is unaware that much of history makes heroes or villains for every culture. this drastically diminished the value of this work a it shows an inability to analyze impartially why there was a myth of Sparta at all. glad I got this on discount.
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9 people found this helpful
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- Collin
- 01-09-22
informative
I enjoyed the objective enthusiasm evident in this book. Highly recommend for anyone that enjoys ancient history!
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1 person found this helpful
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- Anthony
- 10-05-21
Truth be Told
For those of us who’ve read a lot of academic works on Sparta, this book comes as no surprise. I like the fact that the author immediately challenges the reader as to why they would be enthralled, at a cultural level, by Spartans. The Sparta myth has become so absurd that a solid, no nuance deflating is in order. That is unquestionably the strong suit of the book and the author makes no bones about his intentions in that regard. I would rate the recounting of history as only “good” and I can’t really say that the book adds substantially to the body of knowledge about classical Greece. However, this work is accessible to non-historians and people who would get bogged down by turgid academic prose. The histories of battles are written in language that will be familiar to readers of nonacademic modern military history. That has upsides and downsides.
Highly recommended for anyone not in the top 1 percentile of knowledge about classical Greece, the Peloponnesian wars and Sparta. Even if you’re in that 1%, it’s still enjoyable.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Dimitri M.
- 06-10-23
Biased
The author’s “rule of common sense” doesn’t apply to the instances he continued to highlight as disproving the “myth”.
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- MDK
- 05-22-23
Dilettante history with a clear political motivation
What can be said about this book, well the funny thing is I agree with the idea that the Spartan mystique exceeded the Spartan reality - and like most anyone who’s read in Greek history knows that their society was not at all ideal by our standards. But this work is extremely amateurish. The cherry picking of events is far from a scholarly and serious approach and the overall attempt to use it just for a ham handed political attack was so pathetic it left me feeling embarrassed for the author. Ps: the rule of competence is asinine and could never be considered axiomatic as a historiographical tool - sometimes people are incompetent, that’s reality, it’s hard to believe that this half wit author thinks this is a great principle.
I could sum up the whole book like this; the Spartans weren’t so great and neither are guns rights activists, right wing extremists, or really anyone on the right. Now enjoy me cherry picking history and making generally unqualified conclusions which will largely support my thesis.
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- jacob
- 12-08-22
politics
it got into politics bashing conservative values withing the first few minutes. I love history because for the most part is not effected by modern political lines.
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