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Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN num: 9780767922388
ISBN number: 0767922387
Label: Broadway
Manufacturer: Broadway
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 368
Printing Date: June 05, 2007
Publishing house: Broadway
Release Date: June 05, 2007
Sale Popularity Level: 45810
Studio: Broadway
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2,300 years ago an unbeaten army of the West invaded the homeland of a fierce Eastern tribal foe. This is one soldier’s story . . .
The bestselling novelist of ancient warfare returns with a riveting historical novel that re-creates Alexander the Great’s invasion of the Afghan kingdoms in 330 b.c.
In a story that might have been ripped from today’s combat dispatches, Steven Pressfield brings to life the confrontation between an invading Western army and fierce Eastern warriors determined at all costs to defend their homeland. Narrated by an infantryman in Alexander’s army, The Afghan Campaign explores the challenges, both military and moral, that Alexander and his soldiers face as they embark on a new type of war and are forced to adapt to the methods of a ruthless foe that employs terror and insurgent tactics. An edge-of-your-seat adventure, The Afghan Campaign once again demonstrates Pressfield’s profound understanding of the hopes and desperation of men in battle and of the historical realities that continue to influence our world.
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Rated by buyers 
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The Afghan Campaign
By Steven Pressfield
Great authors usually write fictional novels about the Great Alexander. Others just read about him. Many do research about this mesmerizing topic. I chose to write a novel about Alexander seen through the eyes (and feelings) of the enigmatic Hephaistion. Hard job: I might be completing it sooner or later if life grants me the time to do it.
Steven Pressfield is simply great (no wonder he decides always to write about great characters). I did buy this novel expecting to find Alexander's apotheosis seen through the eyes of a simple soldier, a Macedon in search of meaning in life, and glory through the great commander. Somehow, the shade of the glorious Alexander colors the pages of this impressive novel. Yet, the epical Alexander appears seldom in the book in very first person. He was the one who followed the rare vision of going beyond normal people's expectations. Alexander in very first person did risk his life hundreds of times. Which other king, commander, and leader would have risked as much during his/her short life? No one - oh well, Achilleus, Heracles, etc. did - but they were myths. Alexander was flesh - a great king - and an exceptional white axons' brain.
Too many have described the plot of this book - the story of the young simple soldier Matthias along with his best friend Lucas. Pressfield is to be commended for the exceptional idea of choosing the character of a fascinating Macedonian young simple soldier during the extenuating war in Afghan field.
The enemy, the great Lord Spitamenes was to be found, and killed in order to bring back some peace in a primitive country.
The novel about Matthias often sounds as the transcripts of a personal diary. Truth is that the hypothetical diary of Matthias reports history, the meaning in life as well as the meaning of family, true friendship, most unexpected love, and hope. However, it is a period of war - an everlasting war that came into being around 330 B.C.E. - It is the pathetic story of true friends, of finding the true soul you would want to spend your life with, and the story of children. It is the realistic story of continuous separations, of traditions, of secular foundations based on honor, revenge, evil, and violence. And yet there also those beautiful pages of serenity, love, marriage, hope, new lives, and honor.
It is a brilliant novel that speaks about values and sacrifices and at the very end of the meaning of life per se. It is a very detailed and credible novel where nothing it is left to chance. But even at the end - unexpected tragedy brings realism, optimism, and meaning to people, facts, and traditions. Some (included me) will find the last pages a succession of emotions and pathos. It is very melancholic, sad at times, and even apparently unjust. It is very thought-provoking, and many of you will recognize true values that overcome life and death.
I hope you will enjoy this book as much as I did. I hope that Matthias, the simple soldier with its tragedies, the missions, and the visions will lead you questions, big questions. Never, ever this world has experienced a shortage of wars. There is a meaning in war, in hate, diversity and more. Yet, do the millions of Matthias deserve what Matthias experienced? Wars, the thirst of new and better lands, yes this is history. It has always been like this. Yet I keep on asking myself what is the significance of war, destruction, acquisitions, and huge losses. No concrete explanations or answers have been provided up till now. And yet, how many Matthias have walked and fought on this planet? How many more will come?
It's a fascinating book, and a very realistic story. Read it! Enjoy it! Love the beautiful passages through the novel. I, too, have been in the army. I have lived some of those unexplainable things. Sometimes I have felt like Matthias - these unlawful repetitions of history. Unlawful, yes, often: and yet usually somehow unavoidable. Much will not change: Honor and love those who are not with us anymore.
Rated by buyers 
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I've been really interested in Alexander the Great lately and I'm also Afghan so this book seemed like a natural read for me. The depiction of Afghan temperament and thinking seemed to be pretty dead on to me although I didn't recognize any of the Afghan words or names used. I don't know if it's because I'm a Dari speaker and the words were Pashto or archaic/ancient words but the behavior of the Afghan characters were very believable.
Although it may disappoint hard core history buffs or those looking for an ultra-authentic book it's an interesting read especially if you're interested in Alexander the Great or the confluence of cultures, etc. The ending I will admit was a bit disappointing but not enough to spoil the book.
Rated by buyers -
A taut tale of Greek-Macedonian hoplite campaigner versus local tribal foes, the story presents thoughtful grist for the mill considering all the Western adventuring in Afganistan at present time. There is plenty here about asymmetrical warfare but it is incidental to the plot and not overly indulged in beyond its relevance to the story.
And the book is not didactic. This is not a political novel but a revenge tale. Well told in sparse style. Pressfield seems to be getting more "laconic" with each book he writes.
I rate this book a strong buy if you like Pressfield, or historical fiction, or tales of war, revenge, or the cutting edges of "cultural diversity."
Rated by buyers -
"The Afghan Campaign" came a couple years after "The Virtues of War", and I cannot help but feel like the former arrives as a sort of supplement to the latter. That may be unfortunate depending on how you feel about "Virtues", since this book is solid enough to stand on its own.
"Campaign" is narrated by Matthias, a Macedonian grunt among grunts. In fact, the young man is not even enrolled in the royal army proper and is instead a member of one of the many mercenary regiments that have come to fight under Alexander, lured by the promises of glory and riches his armiues have already earned. True to the novel's title, Matthias' story is often less of a personal memoir and more a description of the war fought in what will come to be known as Afghanistan.
Pressfield's strengths are present in this novel: convincing characters, vivid descriptions and the little details that make you feel as if "you're there." In "Gates of Fire", these included the Lacedaemonian Peers' singing of the Paean to the Dioscouri; here you have the medals worn by Matthias' brother and the decadent-by-comparison symposia of the Macedonian officers. Pressfield also does an able job of conveying the brutality of combat and the effects war has on humanity. There's very little glorification going on here, and where one does find it it's obvious that the author is not selling you anything, but is rather conveying the warlike cultural elements of the people of those times.
What hurts "Campaign" at time is endemic to its subject matter. As war begins to take a toll on Matthias and his native humanity, his growing emotional detachment begins to infect the story itself. Matthias' growing callousness is reflected in the writing style, in the details he observes, etc. As a result, I as reader found it difficult to get over this: Matthias did not care, and thus neither did I. Perhaps Mr. Pressfield did too good a job here?
Some curious choices were made as well. I think that "Campaign" also aims to serve as a cautionary tale as well, off the effects that war of this sort can have on mankind. Given its title, we can all surmise on what contemporary conflict it focuses its warning toward. Thus, "The Afghan Campaign", as opposed to the "Bactrian", or the "Sogdian".
Where this runs into a bit of trouble, though, is in doing as much justice to the native enemy as the author does to the "Mac" invader. Any novel of this size would face great difficulty in taking into account the myriads of tribes, warlords and fiefdoms that made up Bactria, Sogdiana and Gandhara back then--much as one hardly captures the "Afghan" reality of yesterday when he forgets that the people of that land are, very first and foremost, Pashto, Tajik, etc. As a result, the faceless, terrifying enemy is often a little "too" faceless. He's given a label, a reputation and a demonstrated capability... but we never really get to know him in the way we did Xerxes' officers and courtiers.
All in all, "Campaign" is a solid read and well worth the money. It's not the best of Pressfield's work, but none of us who enjoy his writing should shy away from giving it a go. 4 stars.
Rated by buyers -
Forty years ago I read Thomas B. Costain and Mary Renault for historical fiction; yesterday I read Simon Scarrow and Conn Iggluden. I came to Steven Pressfield through his non-fiction work--The War of Art. The Afghan Campaign was the very first piece of Pressfield fiction that I have read and I have to say that once I picked it up, I couldn't put it down. Its readability, for me, arose not from the subject matter nor from its characters; it was his relentless and almost perfect prose. Throughout I was reminded of Cormac McCarthy's "Blood Meridian." Ironically, Pressfield's modern (somewhat brutal) sensibility, attracts us to a genre that in the past relied heavily on plot and was more sedate and civilized. I believe that both McCarthy's and Pressfield's hardboiled fiction arises from two things: a return to realism and a close reading of history. Additionally, I believe both are social critiques, using the past to create a mythic sphere to comment on the violence and brutality of the present. Consequently, Pressfield's work surpasses its genre.
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