Trouble in the West provides the first full and continuous account of the Persian-Egyptian War, a conflict that continued for nearly the two-hundred-year duration of the Persian Empire. Despite its status as the largest of all ancient Persian military enterprises- including any aimed at Greece- this conflict has never been reconstructed in any detailed and comprehensive way. Thus, Trouble in the West adds tremendously to our understanding of Persian imperial affairs. At the same time, it dramatically revises our understanding of eastern Mediterranean and Aegean affairs by linking Persian dealings with Greeks and other peoples in the west to Persia's fundamental, ongoing Egyptian concerns. In this study, Stephen Ruzicka argues that Persia's Egyptian problem and, conversely, Egypt's Persian problem, were much more important in the eastern Mediterranean and Aegean worlds than our conventional Greek-centered perspective and sources have allowed us to see. In looking at this conflict as one stage in an enduring east-west conflict between successive Near Eastern imperial powers and Egypt-one which stretched across nearly the whole of ancient history-it represents an important turning point: by pulling in remote western states and peoples, who subsequently became masters of Egypt, western opposition to Near Eastern power was sustained right up to the 7th century Arab conquests. For classicists and historians of the ancient Near East, Trouble in the West will serve as a valuable, and long-overdue, resource.

About the Author
Stephen Ruzicka is Associate Professor of History, University of North Carolina at Greensboro and author of Politics of a Persian Dynasty.

Reviews
formidable scholarship... He sets out his general thesis and its sources with admirable clarity... detailed and illuminating * Peter Green, London Review of Books *
An excellent study of one of the most neglected priods of Egyptian history... highly reccommend... * Kveta Smolarikova, Chronique d'Egypte *
Ruzicka has written an excellent scholarly monograph based on a wide and deep knowledge of the ancient texts and modern scholarship. It is particularly impressive that he produced a very readable narrative history of this complex subject. * Anthony J. Papalas, Bryn Mawr Classical Review *



Book Information
ISBN 9780199766628
Author Stephen Ruzicka
Format Hardback
Page Count 352
Imprint Oxford University Press Inc
Publisher Oxford University Press Inc
Weight(grams) 635g
Dimensions(mm) 163mm * 239mm * 31mm