El. knyga: Rome: Strategy of Empire

As an argument about the Roman Empire's ability to conceptualize and maintain an ongoing imperial strategy, the book succeeds and is highly recommended. It reinvigorates and reshapes the debate. * Law & Liberty * A military history of the Roman Empire with a twist. Using his expertise in strategic operations, [ Lacey] makes a compelling argument that the Romans did think and plan strategically in governing.... Highly recommended. * CHOICE * This well-argued and exhaustively researched book will no doubt reopen the debate as to whether the Romans really were capable of strategic thought. * Military History Matters * ...he[ Lacey] writes honest, straightforward English, tells a good story, makes his disagreements with other scholars fairly and clearly and, even if one disagrees with some of his conclusions, the weight of his experience brings a sense of authority to what he writes. His reflections on the modern military world are especially valuable. * Peter Jones, Classics for All * Engagingly written and logically structured, this is an invaluable contribution to knowledge which moves the discussion far beyond the Luttwak/Isaac debate. The author's practical experience of military planning is brilliantly deployed throughout, and the fact that staff officers effectively use the modern equivalent of Roman itineraries to plan campaign moves is worth a whole book in itself. * Peter Heather, King's College London * Jim Lacey has already established himself as a major historian of politics and strategy in the twenty-first century. He has now brought his focus to Roman strategy and done so with the critical mind of a first rate strategist. This brilliant work replaces all other examinations of Roman strategy. * Williamson Murray, The Ohio State University * Drawing on a wealth of ancient and modern material, Lacey succeeds in bringing a fresh perspective to the question of grand strategy in the Roman empire. This book should become mandatory reading for anyone interested in the development of strategic military thought in any age. * David Potter, University of Michigan * Lacey... concludes that the western empire managed to survive for five centuries despite numerous enemies and environmental challenges because it remained committed to three strategic elements: securing the economic foundations of the empire, maintaining a military force second to none, and having a seemingly inexhaustible supply of soldiers. * New Testament Abstracts * Lacey also emphasizes the importance of economics to the Roman military machine. * Jesse Russell, The European Conservative * The facts presented are faultlessly accurate, and the story is told with a warm, almost conversational (albeit completely academic) tone that is insightful, often witty, and completely free of jargon, which allows the story it conveys to be easily understood by the widest possible audience. It contains enough food for thought to satisfy the most strait-laced academic while providing an easily absorbed and engrossing narrative that will be more than palatable to an amateur history enthusiast. It could as easily serve as summer beach reading as for a textbook for a college survey class. It is thus a worthy addition to any library devoted to ancient military history, or to history in general. * Journal of Military History *