Oxford's Ancient Warfare and Civilization series is consuming my attention these days. It got off to a great start in 2011 with Robin Waterfield's Dividing the Spoils, which I read back in 2012. The series was quiet for a little while (a series of one book!) and then suddenly this book and another by Waterfield on the Roman conquest of Greece came out this year, a few months apart from one another. Another volume of the Arab conquests is due out this fall and another on the Punic Wars in 2015. Folks, we've got a real series on our hands! Chronologically, this is the first book of the series, so it's perfectly fine to start here. I mean, this is non-fiction, so you don't have to worry about spoiler alerts or anything. However, I've found that reading history books chronologically to be incredibly beneficial to my slightly OCD worldview. I like it when the book I'm reading references the last book I read, almost as if I'm continuing the story, even if the two authors hardly know each other. To keep myself from getting stuck in ancient times forever, I usually "reset" every so often. In fact, the most recent reset just happened, jumping back from 1848 to the Persians. Up next in world history, another book about the wars of succession following the death of Alexander. Oh...spoiler alert!
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