The second edition of Victor Davis Hanson's The Western Way of War: Infantry Battle in Classical Greece (2000) describes in great detail what actually took place on the battlefield in ancient Greece, where the Greeks developed the basic tactics for Western warfare. Their brief, violent, decisive head-on battles involve opponents fighting with great resolve to defeat their enemies. The author has been praised not only for his use of technical description but for the imagination he employs, particularly in explaining factors such as the tremendous weight of Greek armor. In this way, Hanson fleshes out such battle details, conveying the immense strength and bravery of Greek soldier contending with heavy equipment that obscured movement as well as hearing and vision.

Originally published in 1903, Jane Ellen Harrison's Prolegomena to the Study of Greek Religion (reprint, Princeton University Press, 1992) is noted for its...