Guy de la Bédoyère

Bédoyère, Guy de la. Gladius: The World of the Roman Soldier. E-book ed., University of Chicago Press, 2020.
Gladius was originally published in England by Little, Brown and seems to have three different subtitles.
Guy de la Bédoyère seems to be a man with research passions. His book is at its best when he indulges his passions and tells fascinating and horrifying stories of life as a sword-slinger in the Roman army. He is especially well-versed in the archeological discoveries around Hadrian’s Wall. His detail, especially his descriptions of military campaigns, occasionally obscures his thesis, which seems to be that the Roman army’s nascent bureaucracy was never quite as efficient as it needed to be. I enjoyed it, but I am not sure how much of the detail will stick with me. Four stars.… (mere)

This book starts off slow but finishes strong, possibly because the late 18th dynasty Egyptian rulers had big personalities. The author takes care to emphasize the incompleteness and sometimes deliberate obfuscation of the historical evidence, and he wryly contrasts these ambiguities with the bold conclusions that amateur and professional Egyptologists often make. Recommended for all readers with an interest in Egyptology and especially for individuals (like myself) fortunate to visit Egypt--the author really brings to life the people who created, usurped, and desecrated these ancient sites.… (mere)

Sometimes, less is more.

Unquestionably, this is a well researched book. It covers the rise and fall of the praetorian guard from the late Republican era through the principate and dominate of the Imperial area.

Unfortunately, the author chose to include an extraordinary amount of detail which tends to obscure his main points. I found myself having to reread sections as the amount of unnecessary detail often caused my attention to wander.

Kudos to the author for addressing a very interesting topic.… (mere)