The Lost Army [Kindle Edition]

Love and War are two classic themes which are skilfully woven into Manfredi's take on the journey of 10,000 Greek mercenaries whose ancestors were the 300 who defended the Fiery Gates under Leonidas . These are the infamous Red Cloaks who fight to win a battle in 401 BC with consequences they could not foresee.

Abira is a beautiful, young village girl, who is literally swept off her feet by the soldier scout and army chronologist Xeno. She knows he is her ticket out of the Village of the Belt where she could marry a boy chosen by her family & remember with regret this stranger or she could seize her chance ...

So how does this girl cover thousands of kilometres with the Red Cloaks, across extreme terrains, become a pivotal part in this herd of soldiers return only to be stoned & left of dead?

I was given this book as a gift & what an enlightening gift this proved to be. For whatever reason, historic tales have never featured much in my reading lists - however this book may change that! In my naivety, I didn't realise this was story grounded in real events, it matches any Hollywood sword and scandal epic & makes the story all the more enthralling.

Take this book away with you on holiday if you`re crossing difficult terrains or need to immerse yourself in a different battle from your daily commute and let its pace engulf you.

I have not read any of the author's other books but wanted a change. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, yes the translation is a bit hit and miss at times, it drags in places and hurries in others...but is perfect escapism, every time I picked it up I was transported from the doom & gloom of recession and awful weather to a story rich in romance, history(however loosely based) and a gripping tale of triumph over adversity.

Ostensibly narrated by a female camp follower, this book portrays the katàbasis (return) of the Greek mercenaries of Xenophon's famed 'Anabasis' ('Journey Up-country'). The Ten Thousand was not a single homogeneous uniform community, and Manfredi addresses the fact that life in the Greek army was mainly formed by a collection of groups, e.g., the informal companionship of the suskenia (mess) is contrasted with the military unit and loyalties of the lochos (company) and realistically informs the narrative text. But, oh dear! Manfredi does dwell on the casualties and cruelties of battle, and then some ... However, it is notable the writing style - or, to be accurate, translated writing style - has improved somewhat since the earliest novels, although an impression persists that the reader is perusing a 'film treatment' rather than a novel per se. Some sections of the novel are almost Homeric in their descriptive power, but the dialogue between the characters does not live up to these. Manfredi has also invented an imaginary scenario / hypothesis that Sparta meant the 10,000 to either win or disappear which, given the reputation of the Spartans, is not entirely beyond the bounds of possibility. In the context of The Lost Army he also frequently refers back to the ultimately useless sacrifice of the 300 Spartans at Thermopylae, as if for some reason the triumph of the 10,000 was revenge for the past.

Ultimately the straggling army reached the shores of the Black (Euxine) Sea, hailing it in a famed shout of joy: 'thalatta, thalatta' (the sea, the sea!), where they erected a trophy monument to their achievement. However, if you want to know the 'real' Xenophon, go to the original 'Anabasis': apart from the surprisingly easy-to-read original Greek for classics students, there are several excellent translations on the market.