Bøger af John D Grainger

The death of Ptolemy VI brought his younger brother Ptolemy VIII to the kingship. This was the start of a prolonged, if intermittent, turbulent period of family strife, punctuated by rebellions, plots and wars. One king, Ptolemy VII, was murdered, Ptolemy VIII's two simultaneous wives plotted and rebelled, and when he died one of these, Kleopatra III, was his effective successor.Ptolemy VIII was in fact not a bad king in some ways, and encouraged the exploitation of the discovery of the monsoon climate of the Indian Ocean to develop trade with India, as well as using his (much reduced) navy to maintain contact with the lands of the Mediterranean. Kleopatra III made a renewed effort to reconquer Palestine, but failed (Eighth Syrian War).From the death of Ptolemy IX in 180 BC there were two overriding problems. Ptolemy IX was the last legitimate Ptolemy, and the succession was constantly in dispute from then on. And looming over all was the rising power of Rome. This had been largely absent from the eastern Mediterranean until the Mithradatic wars brought its power repeatedly into the East. Egypt gradually became drawn into the republic's orbit, mainly as a source of cash to fund its wars and the greed of the Roman aristocracy until, choosing the side of Mark Antony, the final Ptolemy, Kleopatra VII, went down to defeat before Octavian's forces.

The end of the Great War in the Near East began with the Turkish Armistice but was not complete until the final peace treaty in 1923. During that five-year period the British Navy dealt with the overspill from the Russian Revolution in the Caucasus, the Caspian Sea and Central Asia as well, and then in the Aegean Sea and the Straits confronting the resurgent Turkish forces under Mustafa Kemal. The British in India were very concerned about Bolshevik activities in Central Asia and had sent two battalions of Indian troops under a British general to attempt to cope with it. They were successful in battle against larger forces, but politically they were unable to reach any sort of settlement. They were withdrawn when an Afghan war broke out. A second expedition was sent early in 1918 from Iraq through Persia to gain control of the oil fields at Baku in Azerbaijan. The object here was to prevent the oil falling into German or Turkish hands. This was an expedition at the limit of military capabilities, but it did succeed in seizing Baku and preventing a German conquest. In the process ships in the Caspian Sea were captured and turned into a Caspian Sea flotilla to fight Russian Bolshevik advances. These adventures happened before the Turkish Armistice. Constantinople had been occupied, but holding it became increasingly difficult and required the use of considerable forces, mainly British. The other allies gradually faded away or adopted the Turkish side. The resurgence of Turkish power in Anatolia eventually led to a tense confrontation between British and Turkish forces at Chanak on the Dardanelles and a difficult negotiation between generals. The result was a truce, British withdrawal from all occupied areas, and the collapse of the Lloyd George government in Britain, which was prepared to indulge in another war over the issues.

The concluding part of John D Grainger's history of the Seleukids traces the tumultuous last century of their empire. In this period it was riven by dynastic disputes, secessions and rebellions, the religiously-inspired insurrection of the Jewish Maccabees, civil war and external invasion from Egypt in the West and the Parthians in the East. By the 80s BC, the empire was disintegrating, internally fractured and squeezed by the converging expansionist powers of Rome and Parthia. This is a fittingly, dramatic and colorful conclusion to John Grainger's masterful account of this once-mighty empire.

The disastrous reign of the Emperor Commodus, which saw a great expansion of the power of the emperor, eventually resulted in his asassination, but also in a civil war, which was as revolutionary as that of 69. Though the original assassination had been in the name of a restoration of the authority of the Senate - the program of Pertinax and his supporters - the victory of Septimius Severus established a murderous autocracy, which degenerated into incompetence under his successors. It also set up a continuous tension within the government between imperial and senatorial powers and authority.The weakness of the imperial power after Caracalla was emphasised by the assassination of all emperors between 217 and 238; it also produced an increase in warfare on all frontiers from Syria to Britannia. In the later years of Alexander Severus the Senate began to recover its authority, thanks to the emperor's long absences from Rome in the east and in Germany. His frontier policy displeased the army, however, and his assassination produced the Emperor Maximinus. The recovery of the Senate was immediately stopped in its tracks and Maximinus disdained all authority apart from his own.This was a classic prerevolutionary situation, and the reaction amongst the senators was the revolution of 238, sparked by trouble in Africa under the Gordians, but also producing another civil war and the deaths of several emperors. The authority of the Senate was enhanced by the senatorial victory but in in the end the Senate proved unable to defend the empire, and the contest between imperial and senatorial power continued until the 260s when in effect Gallienus returned to imperial autocracy.This marked the end of real senatorial power, and the empire as an autocracy was finally established.

The Second part of this ground-breaking trilogy covers the reigns of Ptolemy III, Ptolemy IV, Ptolemy V and Ptolemy VI.The second volume of this ground-breaking trilogy covers the reigns of Ptolemy II, III, IV, V and VI, who between them reigned for a century. Ptolemy III's rule brought the acquisition of Cyrenaica (through marriage) and territorial gains in Syria, the Aegean, Asia Minor and Thrace due to unexpected military successes in the Third Syrian War. These victories over the Seleukids, marked the apogee of Ptolemaic power. However, the rest of his reign was accompanied by internal trouble in Egypt.On Ptolemy III's death, his minister Sosibius organized the accession of Ptolemy IV, had the new king's mother and siblings murdered and continued as effective ruler for the whole reign. He also dominated that of Ptolemy V. There was a surprising success in the Fourth Syrian War but this was followed by a major rebellion and defeat in the Fifth Syrian War, with the loss of Syria/Palestine and Ptolemaic holdings in Asia Minor.The murder of Ptolemy V in 180 was followed by the long and troubled reign of Ptolemy VI, one of the ablest of the Ptolemies, but hampered by continued trouble in Egypt and in the court. A disastrous war against the Seleukid Antiochos IV set back the Ptolemaic recovery. Ptolemy did eventually manage a complete victory, only to die of wounds received in battle. John Grainger clearly recounts and analyzes this dramatic period of war, politics, murder and court intrigue.

First full-length biography of Sextus Iulius Frontinus. John Grainger traces his career and favourably re-evaluates his importance, in particular in Britain, (at the expense of the better-known Agricola) and in Germany.

In this first volume of his trilogy on the Ptolemies, John Grainger explains how Ptolemy I established the dynasty's power in Egypt in the wake of Alexander the Great's death.

Constantinople is still 'The City of the World's Desire'.

Tells the history of this pivotal region, the doorway between Europe and Asia.

Provides a comprehensive overview of the activities of the British navy in the Indian and Pacific Oceans from the earliest times to the present.

A survey of the activities of the British navy in the Caribbean from the voyages of sixteenth century English adventurers such as John Hawkins and Francis Drake through the great wars of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries against the Dutch, Spanish and French and Britain's declining role thereafter.

An important but neglected aspect of classical warfare. Covers technological, strategic and tactical developments from Alexander to the battle of Actium.

The only book available in English devoted to this subject. Narrates momentous yet neglected events: in 279 the Celtic Galatians invaded, defeated and beheaded the Macedonian king, Ptolemy Keraunos 'the Lightning Bolt') and overran much of Greece.

2nd Part in groundbreaking three-part history of Seleukid Empire. Narrates the heyday of the Seleukid empire, then the largest state in the world, and beginning of their decline.

Uses archaeological evidence to determine how our Stone Age ancestors faced Climate Change.

Survey of the neglected naval campaign of the Crimean War highlights its impact on international relations with China and Japan as well as Russia.

An accessible and authoritative account of the battle of Yorktown (1781), the last major battle in the American War of Independence, where an outnumbered British Army surrendered to American forces under George Washington and their French allies.

A very substantial, comprehensive dictionary containing entries on all the battles fought at sea by British fleets and ships since Anglo-Saxon times.

Analyses the Roman imperial succession and the failure to come up with an enduring, consistent system for selecting the next emperor.

A comprehensive overview of the activities of the British navy in the Mediterranean from the earliest times until the present.

A study of the hardening of British public opinion against Bonaparte and an examination of the events that caused it.

The story of Allied victory in the Holy Land, far from the carnage of the Western Front but a crucial, morale-boosting success under the aggressive and forward-thinking General Allenby.

A comprehensive overview of the activities of the British navy in the Baltic Sea from the earliest times until the twentieth century.

The story of Allied victory in the Holy Land, far from the carnage of the Western Front but a crucial, morale-boosting success under the aggressive and forward-thinking General Allenby.