The Trojan War: A New History

Barry Strauss

Simon and Schuster, Sep 19, 2006 - History - 288 pages

The Trojan War is the most famous conflict in history, the subject of Homer's Iliad, one of the cornerstones of Western literature. Although many readers know that this literary masterwork is based on actual events, there is disagreement about how much of Homer's tale is true. Drawing on recent archeological research, historian and classicist Barry Strauss explains what really happened in Troy more than 3,000 years ago.

For many years it was thought that Troy was an insignificant place that never had a chance against the Greek warriors who laid siege and overwhelmed the city. In the old view, the conflict was decided by duels between champions on the plain of Troy. Today we know that Troy was indeed a large and prosperous city, just as Homer said. The Trojans themselves were not Greeks but vassals of the powerful Hittite Empire to the east in modern-day Turkey, and they probably spoke a Hittite-related language called Luwian. The Trojan War was most likely the culmination of a long feud over power, wealth, and honor in western Turkey and the offshore islands. The war itself was mainly a low-intensity conflict, a series of raids on neighboring towns and lands. It seems unlikely that there was ever a siege of Troy; rather some sort of trick -- perhaps involving a wooden horse -- allowed the Greeks to take the city.

Strauss shows us where Homer nods, and sometimes exaggerates and distorts, as well. He puts the Trojan War into the context of its time, explaining the strategies and tactics that both sides used, and compares the war to contemporary battles elsewhere in the eastern Mediterranean. With his vivid reconstructions of the conflict and his insights into the famous characters and events of Homer's great epic, Strauss masterfully tells the story of the fall of Troy as history without losing the poetry and grandeur that continue to draw readers to this ancient tale.

What people are saying

LibraryThing Review

User Review  - pjskimin - LibraryThing

This book was not what I expected. I thought it would focus on archeological evidence as a support for the existence of Troy. Instead the author asks us to imagine what a real battle at Troy would ...

LibraryThing Review

User Review  - ClifSven - LibraryThing

I found this book to be tedious. As far as I could tell there was no new "history" at all, merely a great deal of speculation on the author's part. And with very little to back up his opinion. He left ...

Contents

• Introduction: 1
• War for Helen: 13
• The Black Ships Sail: 31
• Operation Beachhead: 49
• Assault on the Walls: 69
• An Army in Trouble: 101
• The Killing Fields: 117
• Night Moves: 131
• Hectors Charge: 145
• The Night of the Horse: 171
• Conclusion: 183
• Glossary of Key Names: 191

About the author

Barry Strauss, professor of history and classics at Cornell University, is a leading expert on ancient military history. He has written or edited several books, including The Battle of Salamis, The Trojan War, The Spartacus War, Masters of Command, and The Death of Caesar. Visit BarryStrauss.com.

Bibliographic information

• Title: The Trojan War: A New History
• Author: Barry Strauss
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: Simon and Schuster, 2006
• ISBN: 0743293622, 9780743293624
• Length: 288 pages
• Subjects: History / Ancient / Greece; History / Europe / Greece; History / Military / General