Greek Fire, Poison Arrows, and Scorpion Bombs: Unconventional Warfare in the Ancient World

A gripping and groundbreaking history of how ancient cultures developed and used biological, chemical, and other unconventional weapons of war

Flamethrowers, poison gases, incendiary bombs, the large-scale spreading of disease: are these terrifying agents of warfare modern inventions? Not by a long shot. In this riveting history of the origins of unconventional war, Adrienne Mayor shows that cultures around the world have used biological and chemical weapons for thousands of years--and debated the morality of doing so. Drawing extraordinary connections between the mythical worlds of Hercules and the Trojan War, the accounts of Herodotus and Thucydides, and modern methods of war and terrorism, this richly illustrated history catapults readers into the dark and fascinating realm of ancient war and mythic treachery.

Publisher: Princeton University Press
Published: 07/26/2022
Pages: 432
Weight: 1.1lbs
Size: 7.90h x 5.20w x 1.30d
ISBN: 9780691211084


Review Citation(s):
Choice 05/01/2023

About the Author
Adrienne Mayor is the author of The Poison King: The Life and Legend of Mithradates, Rome's Deadliest Enemy, which was a finalist for the National Book Award, Gods and Robots: Myths, Machines, and Ancient Dreams of Technology, and The Amazons: Lives and Legends of Warrior Women across the Ancient World (all Princeton). She is a research scholar in classics and the history of science at Stanford University.