The Spartan Army (Elite, 66)

This title takes the reader past the infamous Battle of Thermopylae and examines the whole Spartan military system from its gradual birth in the 8th Century BC until its decline in the 4th. It captures numerous interesting details-like the poems of Tyrtaios and the brutal treatment of the helots. The 12 color plates are good, but would have looked better if by Angus McBride or Christa Hook. Overall it is a good source on this brutal warrior society and the state they fought to maintain for centuries.

The Spartan Army in a nut shell, right to the point information historical facts, good photos and great illustrations. This is what like about Elite books

This book has good information, but is small. I would actual only consider it a pamphlet. Was expecting a little more but overall it is a good basic review of the Spartans with a few good illustrations.

Great book, it is short but very descriptive and accurate. Gives good general knowledge background on the Spartan army. What could make it better is to go into detail on the battle array and more tactics.

Its a good over lay, but it do's not go over tactics

"At some point during the 5th Century...the Lakedaimonian army decided to discard their cuirasses.... In due course other Greek armies followed the Lakedaimonian lead and abandoned their heavy body armour. This situation continued into the 360s...." (p. 28)Well, that's news. If anyone out there can confirm by appropriate citations (there are none in this pamphlet)that Greek hoplites did not wear armor in, say, the 2nd Peloponnesian War, or at Cunaxa, please let me know, will you? Until I get some confirmation for this amazing statement, I will regard it as one of the biggest bits of nonsense I have ever read.I find equally astonishing the view that the Spartans, unlike all the other Greeks, continued to wear the muscle cuirass, not segmented armor. "It must be admitted we are dealing with a rather small sample of evidence" says the book. Maybe common sense could occasionally play a part as well, dear author??This book now has an honored place in my local landfill.

Frankly, I am disappointed in "The Spartan Army". Yes, there is some interesting information about the Spartan's, some I haven't read of before, but the author writes in a kind of haphazard rambling fashion that makes it difficult to extract the information. The author starts describing some aspect of Spartan life and then, just as it's becoming interesting, veers off to some other seemingly unconnected topic. It reads like a high school English class essay that the author threw together at the last minute.

I love this whole series of books by Osprey on the warrior elite. Great book for kids. Lots of artwork. Easy to understand history and outline of Spartan culture. Great for the novice. May be too light for the serous student of Sparta. Well worth your money. Wyatt Kaldenberg

Small informative booksatisfied

A great book with marvellous draws about the spartan army. Probably not the biggest book on the subject, but a very good approach for a novice on the subject.

As usual with Osprey publications: an amazing book.