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Excellent read,
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An excellent read and a very interesting period in history where the former glory of the Roman empire was almost recaptured during a very modern war. The author captures this beautifully and in a very approachable style. I would recommend this to any lay history lover of the period.
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|Very Enjoyable History,
“The Gothic War” by Torsten Cumberland Jacobsen is an easy to read and excellent account of the Eastern Roman Empire’s campaign to reclaim Italy from the Ostrogoths. Roman armies made up of barbarians under the leadership of Belisarius, one of the greatest Roman generals, and later Narses (the Eunuch), fought for over twenty years to conquer Italy and return it to Emperor Justinian in Constantinople.
The book starts off with Belisarius’s successful campaign in North Africa against the Vandals, then his move to Sicily before his final invasion of Italy. We read of the many battles, skirmishes and sieges up and down the boot of Italy and of the numerous battles and sieges for Rome, the eternal City.
The book relies heavily on the five volumes of Procopius’s “History of the Wars” but the telling of the tale is excellent and so easy to read that it drags you into the history with ease. The book provides a number of detailed maps and a small number of illustrations (too little really) and a detailed appendix on the `men, equipment and tactics’ of the contending armies (Roman & Goth) which is well worth the effort to read.
Overall this book would make an excellent addition to any library of those readers who have an interest in this period of history.
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|A straightforward narrative,
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Frankly there’s not too much to say about this book except that it provides a straightforward and clear narrative of the Gothic War, with useful accompanying maps (often a serious omission in many other books). Jacobsen’s prose is not exactly inspired though; maybe I do him a disservice since English is not his first language, but I’m comparing with masters of the historical genre such as John Julius Norwich. But then it’s still better than trying to plough through Procopius.
Nevertheless, I feel it is overall a slightly superior work to Hughes’ Belisarius: The Last Roman General which also covers the Vandalic and Persian Wars.
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