Currently reading Adrian Goldsworthy’s The Fall of Carthage: The Punic Wars 265-146BC. I read his How Rome Fell: Death of a Superpower years ago, so no surprises. He’s a military historian, so battles, down to the alignment of maniples and details of logistics, operate in the foreground. Not normally my cup of tea, but a nice change up from the focus on social history which seems to be more common today in these sorts of treatments. I also have some Anthony Evrett biographies on deck, but I think I’ll probably hit Ian Morris’ War! What Is It Good For?: Conflict and the Progress of Civilization from Primates to Robots first. It’s the sort of “big history” which is a better complement to the sort of narrative history that Goldsworthy seems adept at writing.
One thing about The Fall of Carthage (and to some extent the author’s works more generally) that I like is that it dispels some of the preconceptions we have about pre-modern hand to hand conflict. In particular, a lot of our mental image is what Goldsworthy would term “cinematic.” The reality is that a lot of the pitched battles were very tentative, and full action probably occurred for less than 15 minutes, even if extended hostilities could go on for as long as hours.
Update: I don’t link to other blogs much, partly because I don’t have much time to read them with my other obligations, but Pseudoerasmus runs a shop with very high intellectual quality. Recommended. In a similar vein, Scholars Gate.
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