This book provides a fascinating & stunningly illustrated account of ancient Greece & its classical heritage. It chronicles military & political development in Athens Sparta & other ancient Greek city-states all revealed in magnificent detail. It features a special focus on the life tactics & military campaigns of Alexander the Great one of the most important soldiers the world has ever known. It explains & examines the military techniques & strategies operations & training of the Greek armies. It features over 500 photographs illustrations maps battle plans & fact boxes. The first half of this military & political history details how the Greeks recovered from the collapse of the first Minoan Cretan & Mycenaean civilizations & moved towards democracy. It highlights the Persian Wars shows Athens during the Golden Age before it was wrecked by the wars with Sparta & describes the men & women who made Greeces name resonate down the ages. The second part of the book describes the rule of Alexander the Great a military genius who helped spread Greek culture across half of Asia. Nigel Rodgers shows how Alexanders death without an heir was an irreparable loss & that ultimately his heir turned out to be the Roman empire. With information on weapons & fleets on the tactics of Greek soldiers & the organization of great armies this is a breathtaking analysis of 2000 years of impassioned politics warfare & culture.