Book Review: Espionage in the Ancient World: An Annotated Bibliography of Books and Articles in Western Languages

Archives

by R.M. Sheldon

Jefferson, NC: MacFarland, 2008. Pp. xii, 232. Gloss., index. $39.95 paper. ISBN:0786437685

This voluable work is divided into more than a dozen sections, such as "The Ancient Near East," "Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic Age," "The Roman Republic," "The Medieval World," and so forth, down to the early modern period for some non-Western cultures. 

Each section -- called a "chapter" -- opens with a short, concise survey of intelligence and espionage practices and operations in the period, with some commentary on traditional scholarly interpretations. T here follows a list of books and articles, with a succinct summary of its contents or importance, for a total of 839 entries. 

A very valuable handbook for students of warfare in ancient, medieval, and non-western cultures, as well as for those interested in the history of intelligence

Reviewer: A. A. Nofi   


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