Named One of the Best Books of 2014 by The Providence JournalEveryone knows the story of Pocahontas and how she saved John Smith. And were it not for Smith’s leadership; the Jamestown Colony would surely have failed. Yet Smith was a far more ambitious explorer and soldier of fortune than these tales suggest—and a far more ambitious self-promoter; too; so reputed for his truculence that the pilgrims of the Mayflower snubbed him when he offered them his services; though his 1614 map of New England (which he named) made him the unrivaled expert on America.Now; in the first major biography of Smith in decades; award-winning BBC filmmaker and author Peter Firstbrook traces the adventurer’s astonishing exploits across three continents; testing Smith’s claimed biography against the historical and geographical reality on the ground. A Man Most Driven delivers an enlightening dissection of this mythology-making man and the founding of America.
#1087653 in Books Osprey 2012-01-24 2012-01-24Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.85 x .28 x 7.26l; .68 #File Name: 184908554496 pages9781849085540
Review
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. Pretty good coverage on a ver complex campaignBy lordhootBattle of Plataea fought in 479 BC proves to be one of those overlooked battles that is often overshadowed by famous ones like Thermopylae or Salamis and often regarded as an after thought as if Greek victory was a sure thing. Ironically; Plataea was the decisive battle that ended the Persian invasion and a battle where issue was in doubt until the final day.The book about Battle of Plataea by William Shepherd proves to be a pretty good book on the subject. He explained the campaign pretty well and gives us a good strategic understanding of the situation. I got a pretty good understanding of how the battle unfolded. The illustrations by Peter Dennis proves to be quite excellent as well and gave the reader a pretty good illustrated images. I am not too fond of using ancient Greek pottery and reliefs as an illustrations because they represent idealized images and often too vague to be useful.The book relied wholly on the accounts of the famous ancient Greek historian; Herodotus. The book doesn't stray too far from Herodotus and that is both; the strength and weakness of this book. Herodotus remains the primary source of this campaign but it would have been nice if the author took some leaps of faith himself and gave us some educated historical footwork instead of relying solely on Herodotus. Since the author is quite knowledgeable about this subject; I would like to read more about what he thought; instead of what Herodotus thought about the campaign. After all; I can read Herodotus myself. While the narrative was pretty decent; it would have been made clearer if there were more maps relating to the battle. There were a lot of complex movements going on over the period of days and there was just one map on the battle itself and that don't cut the mustard that clearly. The book also clearly point out the strengths and weaknesses of each side but it doesn't really explained why the Persians lost and why the Greeks won. I figured it out myself of course as the clues were in the narrative. I thought it would be nice if the book had a summary on lessons learned that day.But overall; I enjoyed reading this book. Narrative was at times; hard to follow but I found it to be very informative and educational since as the previous reviewer noted; there isn't much written about this battle at all.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Great!!By Phil HistorianThe 479 BC battle of Plataea was a much bigger affair than Marathon and Thermopylae; yet it is very obscure compared to these two famous battles of the Greek-Persian wars. this battle pitted over 80;000 Greeks; including Spartans who lost kin at Thermopylaeagainst a huge Persian army that even had Indian soldiers. the artwork blew me away and the maps were excellent as well! the account of the battle took up most of the book and was well written and there was also a account of the battle of Mycale. this is one of the best Osprey books I have read and it was well worth the money!0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Here is Osprey at it's best. The history is good the art is ...By Timothy LeeHere is Osprey at it's best. The history is good the art is really good. It put a spotlight on a battle I had little knowledge of before. And; wet my appetite for more.
