THE BATTLE FOR GAUL.

Boston: David R. Godine, 1980. 208 pp, 9 3/4" H. Map endpapers, b&w and colour illustrations. "From the day they were first written, Julius Caesar's seven books of 'Commentaries', on his campaigns in Gaul (58 to 50 BC) - modern France, Belgium, southern Netherlands, Germany west of the Rhine, most of Switzerland - have provided an unmatched account of Western Europe in the closing years of the Roman republic. No military commander in ancient history provided more vivid or more readable accounts of his campaigns. They were probably written each winter and then distributed the next spring in Rome to ensure maxiumum political impact. As his account of nearly a decade's relentless campaigning unfolds, Caesar paints an astonishingly compelling self-portrait, making plain his profound dedication to both the extension of Roman supremacy and his own glory, a combination that was to win him, if only for a few years, the unchallenged mastery of the Roman world. (This book) includes some of the most dramatic accounts ever written by a general on war and the command of troops in the field. Here are Caesar's descriptions of his two landings in Britain: of his daring punitive expediton into Germany involving the briding of the fast-flowing Rhine; of the destruction of over 200 enemy warships off the coast of Brittany; of the annihilation of two Roman legions in an eerie forest ambush; and of the heroic last stand of Vercingetorix and 80,000 Gauls in the hilltop fortress of Alesia in central France, an encounter that proved, after eight years' tough campaigning, the decisive turning point of the battle for Gaul. (Includes) the eighth and final book of the 'Commentaries', written by Aulus Hirtius, who served under Caesar in many of his campaigns. The illustrations (include) detailed maps for each of the annual campaigns in Gaul)." Light to moderate edge wear, top of the spine is bumped. Dust jacket has wrinkling and a tiny archivally taped tear at the top of the spine.. Not Signed. First American Edition Thus.. Hard Cover. Very Good-/Very Good.