The History of the Peloponnesian War

The History of the Peloponnesian War Thucydides – 'With icy remorselessness, it puts paid to any notion that the horrors of modern history might be an aberration – for it tells of universal war, of terrorism, revolution and genocide' Tom Holland

The long life-and-death struggle between Athens and Sparta plunged the ancient Greek world into decades of war. Thucydides was an Athenian and achieved the rank of general in the earlier stages of the war, and in this detailed, first-hand contemporary account he writes as both a soldier and a historian. He applies a passion for accuracy and a contempt for myth and romance in compiling a factual record of a ruinous conflict that would eventually destroy the Athenian empire.

Commonly acknowledged as one of the earliest first-hand written accounts of history, this classic work chronicles the war between Athens and Sparta during the fifth century B.C. Its author, Thucydides, dispassionately and accurately describes the events of this ancient Greek war in a strict chronology which includes the causes of the conflict, descriptions of battlefield strategy, political opinions, and all other aspects of the war in the brilliant detail of an intellectual and observant eyewitness. Himself an Athenian general who served in the war, Thucydides relates the invasions, treacheries, plagues, amazing speeches, ambitions, virtues, and emotions of the conflict between two of Greece's most dominant city-states in a work that has the feel of a great tragic drama. Though, in part an analysis of war policy, «The History of the Peloponnesian War» is also a dramatic account of the rise and fall of Athens by an Athenian. As such, it provides a historical warning for modern military, political, and international relations. This edition is translated by Richard Crawley and includes a biographical afterword.