Trockene wissenschaftliche Ausarbeitung die herrlichen Witz vermissen lässt. Super spannend Thematik und dir drei Hauptkapitel sind mich etwas spannend. Schade.

Frodo era un SEAL?Studio interessante, per quanto molto settoriale (le "operazioni speciali" ante-litteram). Per Operazioni Speciali si intende "un'attivta' militare operativa circoscritta nello spazio e nel tempo, gestita da un'unita' di piccole dimensioni, eppure capace di produrre risultati strategici o politici di gran lunga superiori alle risorse investite". Per carita', nulla da obiettare quanto alla definizione, estremamente rigorosa. Ma applicarla al medioevo mi sembra un po' "stiracchia...

Narración lúdica; Un tratamiento interesante y novedoso del periodo comprendido entre 1200-1500. Abre nuevos senderos para la investigación de estas así llamadas operaciones especiales (obtener resultados significativos con escasos recursos) en otros continentes y épocas. Bibliografía bien documentada al final de cada capítulo y notas marginales que acompañan el texto lo que posibilita seguir adentrándose en algunos episodios históricos y su contexto.

Yuval Noah Harari geht in diesem Buch auf die Rolle von Geheimoperationen im Mittelalter ein.Das Thema an sich ist nicht nur spannend gewählt, da ein vermeintlich modernes Thema im Mittelalter nachgewiesen, erklärt und an anschaulichen "Geschichten aus der Geschichte" dargestellt wird. Nicht nur thematisch sondern auch stilistisch zwei normalerweise als eher widersprüchliche angesehene Dinge vereinend, schreibt Harari in einer faszinierenden Weise eine Mischung aus, insbesondere der Spannung nac...

Bueno, ojalá tuviera más historias. Me encantó el detalle que puso el autor en estas y que el tema apenas debe haber sido tocado antes,

After reading the authors two masterworks, Sapiens and Homo Deus, I thought I would give this a try - I am a bit of a history buff, and this sounded fascinating. However it was a bit of a slog; it seems written more for academia than for casual reading. While it does have some interesting events, its pedantic tone and relentless torrent of names and dates never really get to an entertaining through line, and becomes more of a chore than a pleasure. If you are seriously interested in the subject,...

Amazing book!

Special operations have enjoyed a privileged place in the media and in popular culture. Particularly after the First World War destroyed much of the aura of regular combat - replacing heroic images of gleaming bayonets and brave charges with tragic images of mud, blood and barbed wire - the culture of war increasingly looked for glamour and heroism in the field of special operations. Despite their problematic place within chivalric culture, special operations were a central part of war in the ag...

Gran bel libro sulle operazioni da commandos ma nel medioevo. Interessante poi scoprire davvero Harari e il realismo su guerra, violenza, narrazioni aggreganti che si rintracciano durante la lettura.

Un anecdotario interesante, pero se queda muy lejos de los demás libros

An analysis of the role of what we think of as "special ops" in Medieval warfare. That is, the use of variously sneaky and underhanded tactics to achieve military (or political) aims, without having two armies politely show up and fight each other. Of course, I say sneaky, but really this kind of thing actually usually got things done with less bloodshed, and usually only the blood of the noble jerkwads involved, so theres something to that. Anyway, theres a thesis bit with like academic theoriz...

This is an Israeli doctoral thesis written up in book form, a much better effort than my own thesis. This sympathetic element aside, the author got me “on side” when describing the importance of special operations in western culture and media, referring specifically to The Lord of the Rings as describing a covert special operation to destroy a weapon of mass destruction! The man has style.Further, he explained the strategic use of medieval castles better in a few paragraphs than others manage in...

Excellent.

Somewhat unimpressed with the book compared to other historical works I’ve read recently. Comes across with the feel of a postgrad throwing several essays together from a pet subject. With the lack of standing armies and ad-hoc alliances and polyglot forces, the contemporary term seems slightly inaccurate, but full credit for giving it a go and presenting some interesting snippets of history in one volume.I liked the idea, but the modern take on the subject feels too modern and I find the style

Ein insgesamt interessantes und informatives Buch, dass eine unbedachte Taktik gut betrachtet.

While I thought Homo Deus was overrated, it was entertaining. So I thought Harari would be able to make this topic entertaining as well. If you are already interested in military history, this might be for you, but it didn't work for me.

Heavy on the detail, but I find Harari could have dug more outside his 15th century speciality field.

Harari's thesis is that special operations in the medieval world consisted of kidnapping, rescuing hostages, assassination, seizing infrastructure via stealth or trickery and the outright destruction of infrastructure, and striking at important symbols. While such 'underhanded' methods were always tried and often critical in warfare, they were never developed into a system because they had a tendency to upset the order of things, especially assassination. The six case studies are very detailed a...

Ich hatte mir bei dem Autor etwas mehr erwartet. War aber eher mittelmäßig. Ein paar historische Einblicke, um das Thema Special Operation zu beleuchten, ein bisschen Grundlage zu dem Thema. Ich hab mich ziemlich durchgekämpft.

A study of the use of special operations during the Medieval period, with some detailed stories that make for fascinating reading.A special operation is a compact operation conducted by a small force at a specific target that achieves significant strategic or political results disproportional to the resources invested in it. Fortified towns and castles were important as hubs of communication, transport and supply. Special operations against these could have an impact similar to that of a victory...