I have enjoyed collections of quotations, both the famous and the obscure, for decades now. Nothing is more disappointing in that field than picking up a new volume, paging through it and finding the same old chestnuts you've seen in countless volumes before.

That's not the issue here. The Greenhill Dictionary of Military Quotations, edited by Peter G. Tsouras, is tightly focused on its topic, and it's hard to imagine any one person tackling the task -- after all, people have had a lot to say about war for millennia.

Kudos to Tsouras, who does an admirable job of packing the book with fascinating quotes from a broad range of sources. The type is small -- although not so small as to require squinting -- and he's filled more than 500 pages with his findings. You'd be hard pressed to go looking for a quotation on the subject of war and the military, and not find it here.

This is, for the record, a revised and expanded edition of a book he first published 20 years prior.

Tsouras, in his preface, notes that the book contains more than 6,000 quotations from nearly 800 people, divided into almost 500 subject areas over a period spanning some 4,000 years.

Chris Riddell punctuates the text with illustrations, but the whimsical line drawings don't take up much space. They break up the text occasionally, but they're small enough that they don't distract from the words.

The table of contents alone takes up nearly four pages, with topics arranged in three columns per page, ranging over a broad spectrum of subject matter. You'll find sections on admirals, aggression and appeasement, bayonets and bravery, camp followers, casualties, common sense and cowardice. And there's more: defeat, diplomacy, drinking, famous last words, heroism, inspiration, leadership, military ethics, military intelligence, neutrality, obedience, panic, patriotism, promotion, propaganda, reconnaissance, sacrifice, scorched earth, spit and polish, swearing, tactics, uniforms, veterans and victory. And more -- that's just a brief sampling.

The end of the book contains a select bibliography and a biographical index, both sections spanning several more pages each.

This is a hefty book -- in times of war, if nothing else was close at hand, it would make an admirable weapon for close combat -- and anyone who enjoys the subject will spend hours poring over its pages.