Greek Hoplite 480-323 BC: Weapons, Armour, Tactics: No. 27 (Warrior) Paperback – Illustrated, 25 Dec. 2000

Pretty much all you need (as a modeller) within one short book.

Well, this is a good book on Greek Hoplites, full of useful information to add to my understanding of this style of warfare. The illustrations are immensely useful and it covers small detail which other books just miss out on. However, details on some of the equipment is a bit deficient, for instance there is no attempt to categorise the different helmet types properly. Also, the organisation on the battlefield is not rather rushed over and a much better take on that can be found in Greece and Rome and War by Peter Connolly. Still, as I say there is information I have not found elsewhere in here, including an excellent section on the non-military equipment each soldier carried and a magnificent breakdown of the parts of the sword and scabbard, and I would thoroughly recommend this book.

If you want a one book introduction to the hoplite and classical Greek warfare this is it. The warfare, battles and most importantly the equipment is clearly explained and well illustrated.

Good.

Nick Secunda has an easy writing style that requires no effort to read; the book is entertaining for the casual reader and factual enough for the serious reader. The illustrations back up the text well, and the colour plates are up to the Hook dynastys' usual standard. The text refers continually to actual events and cites many contemporary sources and archaeological discoveries. Nick Secunda has written a high quality academic work, which justifies my belief that Osprey consistently publish quality works of unquestionably good value for money.The three down sides to the book are that;1) it is so brief! I feel that Secunda could easily have written another hundred pages without repeating himself and it would allow him to expand on many of the issues he simply did not have the space to fully explore. I sincerely hope Secunda produces a much larger volume based on this work. I know I would buy it!2) The study only focuses on the traditional use of the hoplite phalanx. I would like to see a follow up work detailing the development of the phalanx from, say, the Peloponnesian War to Cynoscephalae and Rome's conquest of Greece. Could Secunda create another Osprey work on this topic?3) Having written reviews for several other Osprey books, my standard gripe remains the same. Maps. As the maps Osprey use are generally very small, lack detail and often fail to highlight all the sites and battles mentioned in the text, I feel that they should omit them altogether. Alternatively, increase the cost of the books by a pound or two and add some detailed maps at the back. Better still Osprey, why not publish some historical atlases of your own? Surely there would be a large enough market amongst your readers? Many of the historical atlases on the market are substandard, while better ones are hugely expensive - isn't a compromise possible?I would recommend this book to anyone interested in ancient warfare.