Subject: (urth) new history of the Peloponnesian War

From: Russell Wodell <wrustle at telus.net>
Date: Tue, 08 Aug 2006 15:18:58 +0000

This might be helpful for those (like me) still struggling to understand the historical background of the Latro series.

http://www.claremont.org/writings/crb/summer2006/kopff.html
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From: Matthew King <automatthew at gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 08 Aug 2006 16:07:03 +0000

The author of this review (Victor Davis Hanson) wrote a chapter about  
the naval battle of Salamis in his book Carnage and Culture.    
Salamis is the name  "translated" by Latro as meaning Peace.

I had read Carnage and Culture shortly before I discovered Wolfe, and  
I was thrilled when I recognized what Latro was writing about.

Another great resource for historical background is the Teaching  
Company's audio lectures on Herodotos.

On Aug 8, 2006, at 10:18 AM, Russell Wodell wrote:

> This might be helpful for those (like me) still struggling to  
> understand the historical background of the Latro series.
>
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From: Matthew King <automatthew at gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 08 Aug 2006 16:10:52 +0000

I misread that web page.  Hanson is the author of the book in  
question, which means I'm about to go buy it right now.

The Peloponnesian war, I should note, takes place well after the  
events in the Soldier books, and involves the Spartans and their  
allies against the Athenians and their allies.

On Aug 8, 2006, at 11:07 AM, Matthew King wrote:

> The author of this review (Victor Davis Hanson) wrote a chapter...

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From: Chris <rasputin_ at hotmail.com>
Date: Tue, 08 Aug 2006 19:27:48 +0000

I am not familiar with the work, but I would be slightly wary of reading too 
much into Latro's story from a modern book about its historical background. 
This background is, for Wolfe, seen more through the eyes of Herodotus, 
Thucydides or Xenophon.

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From: Matthew King <automatthew at gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 08 Aug 2006 21:36:16 +0000

> This background is, for Wolfe, seen more through the eyes of  

The focus of _Carnage and Culture_ is on the nature and development  
of Western military prowess, so the chapter on Salamis is not  
directly relevant to _Soldier of the Mist_.  As I recall it, Latro  
doesn't tell us much about the battle of Peace.

Knowing a little about the battle, the strategy of Themistocles, and  
the appalling human loss on the side of the Persians:  I say knowing  
some of this makes for a richer reading of _Mist_.

Regarding wariness toward modern books:  where do you suppose the  
authors get their historical information about the Persian war if not  
from Herodotos, et al.

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From: Mo Holkar / UKG <lists at ukg.co.uk>
Date: Wed, 09 Aug 2006 13:55:54 +0000

At 22:36 08/08/2006, Matthew wrote:
>Regarding wariness toward modern books:  where do you suppose 
>the  authors get their historical information about the Persian war 
>if not  from Herodotos, et al.

I think the point was though that Wolfe relishes and draws on the 
oddities and fantasies of Herodotus, which may be dismissed as 
unhistorical by modern scholars. So Herodotus may be in some ways 
more "infomative" when reading Wolfe than a 'but this is what 
actually happened' account.

Mo