Great Battles for Boys: Ancients to Middle Ages

Great Battles for Boys #1

by Joe Giorello

Spartans! Persians! Romans! Historic warriors who changed the world. But does your son know why these soldiers were fighting? Find out in Great Battles for Boys, the bestselling series that takes young readers to the front lines of the world's most significant clashes. History leaps off the page with short, powerful chapters and plenty of historic imagery, capturing the attention of even reluctant readers. Want boys to read? Give them books they WANT to read! In this installment of the bestselling series, boys travel to the ancient world to learn about twelve famous military battles that drastically altered world history. They'll also learn about the notable men who led those battles, including Alexander the Great, Julius Casaer, and William "Braveheart" Wallace , among many others. Beginning in Ancient Greece and Persia, the battles continue into the Middle Ages—including the Crusades —and conclude with the year 1588 when the Spanish Armada's attemped invasion of England, and the dawn of modern naval warfare. Don't miss the highly acclaimed series for boys that reveals the courage and valor of men in battle, and how their bravery changed the world.

Pick up a copy today—and create a reader tomorrow.

Praise for the Great Battles for Boys series
"This book should be in school libraries everywhere. It is a treasure trove of information that is engagingly written that makes one feel they are in a great classroom with a great instructor sharing his knowledge in a fun way."
—5 Stars, Amazon Top 500 Reviewer

Genres: Childrens, Nonfiction, History

120 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2018

About the author

Joe Giorello teaches a highly popular middle-grade class in the Seattle area called “Great Battles for Boys." Find out more at his website, http:// www.greatbattlesforboys.com, or at the Facebook page for Great Battles: https:// www.facebook.com/greatbattles

Reviews

[Lisa · Rating 1 out of 5]

There are some glaring errors in this book. The Battle of Hastings on page 64 states that Harold Godwinson was Edward the Confessor's brother. He wasn't. Edward married Harold's sister Edith under duress as Edward's nobles didn't care the growing foreign influence over their king. The power of Godwin, Earl of Wessex overshadowed the power of the Edward the Confessor and if Tostig hadn't rebelled against his brother it might have been the Godwinson dynasty instead of the Normans who succeeded King Edward.
The Dukes of Normandy are descended from Rollo or Gaange Rolf who was a Viking who was given French lands by Charles the Simple in exchange for stopping his raiding.
The Battle of Stirling Bridge on page 81 states,"In the year 1290, the Queen of Scotland died. She had thirteen children, but didn't say which one should inherit her throne." On the death of Alexander III, King of Scots, his granddaughter Margaret "the Maid of Norway" became queen designate. She died at age 7 on the journey to Scotland at Orkney never having made it to mainland Scotland. The thirteen competitors were cousins who could trace their ancestry back to Duncan I, King of Scots and only four of these had legitimate claims. Also complicating things was the fact that many of the Scots nobles owned valuable lands in England for which they did homage to the King England. William Wallace wasn't a noble which struck a sour note among the nobility who were also walking the tightrope in their estate ownership, which Edward I of England could seize on the charge of treason.
The Spanish Armada on page 102. King Philip II of Spain proposed marriage to Elizabeth I hoping to bring her back into the Catholic fold as she wasn't regarded as the legitimate monarch of England. The Catholic monarchs of Europe and Catholic considered Mary, Queen of Scots, the heir to Mary Tudor. When Elizabeth executed Mary, Queen of Scots, and English privateers joined the Dutch Philip II decided that the only way to deal with Elizabeth I. I can't recommend this book.

[Amanda Sanders · Rating 4 out of 5]

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 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.

[Tnb · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fairly shallow, not bad, a decent starter.

There were some inaccuracies which is fine if you look on these collection of books as a starting point.

What irritated me most is that whoever edited this would never pass the SAT grammar section. The text is littered with mistakes from typos, to stylistic errors to grammatical errors. A young reader wouldn't care, so it is definitely not a deal breaker for kids.

Probably the worst offenders were the maps. The maps are awful. Plain awful. Too small. Too dark. The elements were not clear. The arrow were hard to follow. Awful.

Best advice: Don't buy this. Borrow it from the library to refer to as a laundry list of key military events and ask your friendly librarian for better resources.

[Leah · Rating 4 out of 5]

My son is very into wars and history so I purchased this book (would have borrowed it from the library if they had it) to add some extra spice for our history readings.
The book is very approachable, has difficult or unfamiliar words defined and pronunciations added if need be.
When we come upon an interesting war in our history spine I take a look into Great Battles and see if there is a chapter on it.
We've enjoyed diving a bit deeper into some of these important wars. I've read some reviewers state there are discrepancies. I don't doubt it, but this is something I consider with all history books and a reason why I like to use multiple sources. It makes it easier to pick up on biases, alternate views and gives us some great opportunities for critical thinking and digging deeper.

[Kristy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book had several grammatical errors and misspellings. The maps were small. I wished the maps were bigger and took up a whole page. Excellent introduction to various ancient to medieval wars for boys or girls interested in history. Gives a good summary of battles. Hits several high points. My son is interested in WWII, so he wasn’t as excited about this book, but we’re starting at the beginning of author’s books and continuing onto those he’s interested in. He’s already interested in the American Revolutionary War book. I would recommend this book to parents to read to their child if interested in history. Older children would enjoy it too.

[Joel · Rating 5 out of 5]

i like the book because it talks about the middle ages wars and it has people like Alexander the Great,Julius Casaer, and William "Braveheart" Wallace and those are the brave heroes of war.Beginning in Ancient Greece and Persia, the battles continue into the Middle Ages—including the Crusades—and conclude with around the year 1500 when the Spanish Armada's attemped invasion of England, and the dawn of modern naval warfare.

[Yusuf U. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book gives a nice overview of the important battles during that time. Definitely a good reference if you need it.
But one thing I guess that always happens when it's written from a "western" point of view is the way the Muslims are depicted, it wasn't too bad in this particular book but it's something I noticed a lot when reading books about history.

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

An easy read that conveys some good information. He does make a mistake of omission about Edward the Confessor and Harold Godwinson being brothers, they were actually brother in laws. For a brief overview of battles it is a worthwhile read.

[Andrea Renfrow · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found a few mistakes but this is still a fantastic resource for building history studies in your homeschool. Each chapter focuses on a famous battle and includes maps and end notes of additional resources: more books, internet links, and movies to watch.

[Shanae · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not great. Not terrible. Could have been far more interesting. But for what it was, it was fine. Nice springboard for discussion and other rabbit trails.

It was a good audiobook for the car since each chapter was a standalone story.

[Jake Keyes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book for upper elementary/middle schoolers. Gives a nice summary of key battles with key figures. Gives the basic information that keeps the young reader interested and understanding of the content.

[Bryan Lewis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great for my 9 year old

He’s loved these series, and learned much from them. We’ve read them together and it’s been a good introduction to war and battles for him.

[Tiffany · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book itself was an easy read. It gives a short story of various battles and people with where to find out more at the end of each chapter.I did not like the sources at the end of each chapter. It felt like I was reading a wiki website. It was an okay book.

[Amy Duistermars · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think my middle school boys would really enjoy this. Chapters are short and the battle details are interesting and easy to understand.

[Jennifer Leo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy explanations of battles. Enjoyed it as a read aloud

[Alix St Amant · Rating 4 out of 5]

We all loved this one. These books do a great job of teaching history in a way that’s interesting and memorable.

[David Reaume · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not only does Great Battles for Boys cover the basics, they go in depth. It took me half an hour to explain what happened to my mom. This is one of the few books I would read many more times!

[Jonathan Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very easy read and very entertaining.

[Tricia Mingerink]

Proofing this book before giving to my nephews for Christmas. The battles are told with the factual details, even if those details are gory, but without the writing lingering in a gruesome manner that would be inappropriate for the target age-range.

Content Note: Quotes from soldiers are kept entirely accurate, including any language. D*** and h*** are the most common. No S*** or f-bombs. If you are uncomfortable with your younger boys reading that kind of language, you may wish to proof with a black marker on hand.

[Matthew Haley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is it heartwarming and let me find out all about ancient times Alexander, the great and and other wonderful leaders some with good intentions, some bad.