Expedition to Disaster: The Athenian Mission to Sicily 415 BC by Philip Matyszak (PDF)

Description

This thrillingly vivid history recounts a pivotal battle of the Peloponnesian War, bringing the drama and personalities of the Sicilian Expedition to life. The Athenian expedition to conquer Sicily was one of the most significant military events of the classical period. At the time, Athens was locked in a decades-long struggle with Sparta for mastery of the Greek world. The expedition to Sicily was intended to win Athens the extra money and resources needed to crush the Spartans. With the aid of new archaeological discoveries, Expedition to Disaster reconstructs the mission, and the ensuing siege, in greater detail than ever before. The cast of characters includes Alcibiades, the flamboyant, charismatic young aristocrat; Nicias, the ageing, reluctant commander of the ill-fated expedition, and Gylippus, the grim Spartan general sent to command the defense of Syracuse. It was he who turned the tables on the Athenian invaders. They were surrounded, besieged, and forced to ask for mercy from a man who had none. Philip Matyszak’s combination of thorough research and gripping narrative presents an episode of ancient history packed with colorful characters and dramatic tension.

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐Another readable and engaging book by my rapidly becoming favorite ancient history author.Highly recommended, as all of his books

⭐Having read both Donald Kagan’s abridged and unabridged histories of the Peloponessian War, as well as Victor Davis Hanson’s A War Like No Other, I was interested in reading a more in-depth account of the Athenian expedition to Syracuse. Philip Matyszak’s Expedition to Disaster, however, provides little new information to the discussion and some of his phrasing of the narrative leaves much to be desired. It is clear that the author is passionate about the material he is presenting. Unfortunately, Matyszak’s writing style can at times come off as sophomoric and distracts from the overall history. Background information is either glazed over or hastily assembled to provide context to the reader. This text would be difficult to understand or appreciate with no background knowledge of Ancient Greece or the Peloponnesian War. I also encountered several editing errors in the text. All of these shortcomings detract from what could have been a fascinating insight into one of the most overlooked period of world history. Instead, I am left wondering (much like the Athenians) what could have been.

⭐The book is excellent read. As with books covering this period of time, the names and places are confusing. But the author does a good job putting you in the action on the battlefield. But the good news is you won’t need a PhD in classical history to enjoy this book. Looking forward to reading many more titles by this author.

⭐Wonderful writing. I knew about the war prior to reading the book and thought it wouldn’t be anything but a rehash of known facts but I have to say I’m going to be checking out any other books written by Philip. He included insights I had no idea of, kept me on the edge of my seat. It’s one of those rare books that you don’t want to put down until you’ve finished.

⭐Once again, Philip Matyszak proves himself a master at conveying a genuine, realistic feel of the times of which he writes. He provides a fresh narrative and interpretation of the Athenian Expedition and does so with an extremely enjoyable writing style. I heartily recommend this (and all other books) by Mr. Matyszak and eagerly look forward to his next foray. One could have done without his thinly veiled criticisms of American companies at the end of Expedition to Disaster but luckily this does not take away from the enjoyment of the whole.

⭐This book is a pleasure to read. It covers a fascinating and undocumented corner of history with clear, interesting memorable writing.

⭐The book arrived at the promised time. The book tells how a military expedition can fail from overconfidence, recklessness, hesitance. superstition, and plain bad luck.

⭐Author plugs his political opinion too often, even referencing biased sources. A disappointment.

⭐A few other reviewers have mentioned that you need to know the background of the Peloponnesian War or Ancient Greece in general to understand this book. Maybe, but it does give background in the opening chapters so that’s not too much of an issue in my opinion.The reason I’ve scored this book down a bit is because it’s relatively short and (as mentioned above) a few of the chapters set the scene rather than give detail on the subject. Therefore I felt I learnt less about the Sicilian venture from this than I did from Donald Kagan’s book on the Peloponnesian War (which is excellent and I highly recommend the abridged version and 4 volume unabridged version) despite that book trying to fit in 30ish years of narrative, as opposed to one event in this one.I find Pen & Sword publications very hit and miss. To give them credit, they publish books about very niche subjects and are often the only choice if you want to read about a certain topic. Many of their books are short and basic and feel like they haven’t been edited and checked correctly. This particular author also has a tendency to make errors in his writing, for example, he refers to the island of Sphacteria, on which a group of Spartiates surrendered to Cleon’s light armed troops as “Pylos”, repeatedly. For such a famous event for fans of ancient Greek history, this is quite a blatant and odd error to make. However, having pointed out what, in my opinion, are the negatives, the author does have a whimsical and light, conversational writing style. For someone who isn’t used to reading history, or perhaps for young adults, this may appeal.

⭐I started reading this in Kindle during six days in Syracuse, and wish I had time to finish it there and to savour the vivid account of the sea-battle and the harbour blockade while in situ. It is a great and well-paced read, with mainly enjoyable colloquiality giving a personal touch to the impressively detailed and well-sourced narrative. I would have given four and a half stars if I could: the missing bit is for some incidental name glitches and typos which slightly affected my relish of it at times, but couldn’t detract from the overall enjoyment and profit. Also an appetite-whetter for Thucydides.

⭐The story moves along like an adventure novel but the attention to detail and nuance remains outstanding. Really terrific stuff.

⭐Bought for friend, interested in ancient history, very pleased with it.

⭐An excellent account of the disaster that was the Athenian Expedition to Syracuse during the wars with Sparta.Adolf Hitler should have read this book before he attacked Russia during WW!!, the similarities are amazing.

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