Anabasis II

Anabasis II (1960) by Xenophon
Macmillan
ISBN: None (long before barcodes, these volumes came armed only with Greek text, stiff binding, and the faint aura of exam panic).
Condition: Good (in Crappy Old Books terms, that means it’s soldiered through a few decades of classrooms without deserting, and while it bears the patina of use, it hasn’t surrendered a single page).

Xenophon’s Anabasis is one of antiquity’s greatest survival epics: ten thousand Greek mercenaries stranded in hostile Persia, fighting, scheming, and marching their way home. Book II—faithfully reproduced here in Macmillan’s stout 1960 edition—lands us squarely in the aftermath of Cyrus the Younger’s ill-fated bid for the throne. With the would-be king lying inconveniently dead, the Greek army suddenly finds itself unemployed, encircled, and wondering whether anyone packed lunch.

Here you’ll find:

• Generals quarrelling while the Persians close in.

• Mercenaries debating whether to fight, parley, or simply complain about the rations.

• A slow dawning realisation that this “expedition” has turned into the mother of all walking holidays.

• The seeds of Xenophon’s eventual rise as leader—even if, for now, he’s still somewhere at the back sharpening his philosophical one-liners.

This Macmillan school edition offers the Greek text, notes, and vocabulary support: equal parts action-adventure and grammatical gauntlet. Imagine a survival manual where every command is in the optative mood, and you’re halfway there.

Perfect for:

• Readers who like their history with spears in one margin and syntax notes in the other.

• Collectors of classic Macmillan hardbacks, built tough enough to survive both campaigns and careless undergraduates.

• Anyone who thinks “lost in enemy territory” sounds more exciting in Attic Greek.

At Crappy Old Books, we’re offering this copy in Good condition. No signs of battlefield trauma, just the honest wear of a book that has marched through decades of study. It’s ready to join your library phalanx and remind you that even in the worst of situations, you can always conjugate your way out.

This is an ex-school book from Old Palace school in Croydon.

Keep browsing: See more Ancient Classics books Other books by Xenophon