His interest in Greek philosophy reappeared in his first book, Antigonos Gonatas (1913), he sought to bring his subject, whom he admired, to life.
Despite technical advances and numerous revisionist challenges, Tarn's books continue to influence the subject at the end of the twentieth century.
[2] During the Great War, Tarn worked as an intelligence officer, having been refused enlistment in the army due to poor sight.
His Lees Knowles lectures at Trinity College, published as Hellenistic Military and Naval Developments in 1930, have remained in print ever since.
According to some, Tarn offered a somewhat idealistic interpretation of Alexander's conquests as culturally inclusive and essentially driven by his vision of the "unity of mankind" in the Opis Decree.
[6] Jeanne Reames remarked that "Tarn's portrait of Alexander turned the Greek conqueror into a proper Scottish gentleman".
When discussing the revolt of the Spartan king Agis III in 331 BC, Badian added that Tarn "distort[ed] the actual facts in an all but irresponsible fashion" in his work.
[8] Tarn's ground-breaking work on Graeco-Bactrian history considered the interaction between Greek and non-Greek subject peoples in Hellenistic territories and how these developed over time.