Joe Giorello

As a fan of history in general and military history in particular, I was very excited to receive and review this book. Unfortunately I was very disappointed. While the writing was purposefully kept at a low reading level, it was the many errors throughout the book that keep me from giving it a positive review.

From the first chapter which discusses the Battle of Thermopylae, the book states that ancient warfare lasted “probably less than one minute each.” I’m hoping this is a typo to show more be resolved because ancient warfare typically lasted longer than that, oftentimes a number of hours (see John Keegan’s A History of Warfare). Ancient battle was brutal and exhausting but it did not end after one minute!

Another major mistake which disappointed me was in the beginning of the chapter on The Battle of Alesia. The author(s) state that the reader had surely heard of Julius Caesar “the famous Roman emperor.” As any lover of history should know, Julius Caesar was never a Roman emperor. That this was not a small oversight is shown later in the chapter when the author(s) write that after the battle, “Julius became emperor of the Roman Empire.” And even though the book does not tell us what his name would have been before, it states that “His name was changed to Julius Caesar. ‘Caesar’ was a title like ‘emperor’ or ‘king.’” None of this, of course, is true.

There are, unfortunately, many such errors in the book. While I think the series has an ambitious and noble goal of reaching young boys and getting them interested in the printed word, I wish the writers would take more to fact check their sources.

Sadly, I cannot recommend this book. show less

I like the way the author writes this nonfiction book about battles from Ancient times to the Middle Ages. He acts like he is having a conversation with the readers. There aren't any sidebars and inserts like in most nonfiction books. Those either distract or get ignored. I think this is a plus. The author gets graphic, but that is expected in a book about war. He talks about chopping off hands to set an example and crucifixion. At the end of each chapter/battle, there are references for show more further reading and Internet sites and movies. I appreciate he didn't list R rated movies in a child's nonfiction book. And now for my criticisms: The maps are way too small and I can barely read the words on them and he should not have said this book was for boys by saying it in the title. I appreciate the history and so would many other girls. Don't scare off potential readers by saying this book isn't for them in the title. show less

Great Battles for Boys: Ancient to Middle Ages by Joe Giorello is an easy, fun introduction to history for older children. It has some action and maps (not very detailed), but enough to intrigue young minds.
The chapters are divided into different periods of history, making it easy to read a small amount if chosen. My 11 yr. old son loved this book and is very interested in reading more in the series.
My biggest criticism is the labeling of it “for boys”. Umm...there are many girls also show more interested in this same topic, and to limit your audience is not a good look. show less

Great Battles for Boys: WWII Pacific, by Joe Giorello is a broad look at the history of the Second World War in the Pacific broken down into separate chapters covering individual battles. There are two things I really like about this book; first, it is historically accurate. That is so important when dealing with such a complex subject. The information is given in a well thought out manner that makes it easy for anyone to enjoy and understand. The author paints a clear picture of what is show more going on in each battle.

The second thing, which I love, is that the stories, although complete in themselves, do leave you wanting, and Joe Giorello has made that easy by referencing other books, films and best of all, website links, to more in-depth information. That will certainly appeal to younger readers for whom the ‘net is everything.

I really enjoyed reading this book, and even though I’ve read hundreds of books covering this topic, I learned even more from Joe’s well-researched work. I can easily recommend it to anyway, and don’t let the ‘Boys’ in the title scare you away. It is great for adults too. show less