Women at War in the Classical World is a nonfiction book; a compilation of historical information that shows the role women (mythical figures and real historical figures) played in the wars of the classical civilizations. The book seems to be well researched and the information presented is very interesting.

I really enjoyed reading it; however, I think that the writing needed better editing. Also, on a couple occations, I disagree with the way the author interpreted some of the information. Nevertheless, these issues are minor. What really I found problematic and quite shocking, I might say, is an instance where the author describes a soldier raping a woman as lucky. On page 65, Paul Chrystal writes: "The officer who took possession of her used his luck, as soldiers do, and raped her." From the words that follow immediately after, "He [the soldier] was, naturally, an ignorant man with no self-control when it came to either pleasure or money [...]," we could infer that the author's choice of words, "used his luck," in referring to the soldier raping the woman is an unintentional error and doesn't (hopefully) signify the author's views on a man being lucky when raping a woman. On the other hand, diction (choice of words) is highly important in writing. Such a glaring, careless error could be seen (and excused) in an amateur writing--It shouldn't be seen in scholarly writing.