Robert Strassler's new edition amends these omissions, and not only provides a new coherence to the narrative overall but effectively reconstructs the lost cultural context that Thucydides shared with his original audience. His authoritative chronicle of what he considered the greatest war of all time is rigorous and meticulous, yet omits the many aids to comprehension modern readers take for granted-such as brief biographies of the story's main characters, maps and other visual enhancements, and background on the military, cultural, and political traditions of ancient Greece.

Written centuries before the rise of modern historiography, Thucydides' narrative is not continuous or linear. However, this classic book has long presented obstacles to the uninitiated reader. An absolute gem of an edition.Thucydides called his account of two decades of war between Athens and Sparta “a possession for all time,” and indeed it is the first and still the most famous work in the Western historical tradition.Ĭonsidered essential reading for generals, statesmen, and liberally educated citizens for more than 2,000 years, The Peloponnesian War is a mine of military, moral, political, and philosophical wisdom. There are also a good few black and white illustrations and many useful appendices which describe in a nutshell such key topics as Athenian, Spartan and Persian government, warfare and society. Maps galore, mini-paragraph summaries in every margin, footnotes, extensive index, page headlines indicating the year and subject of each page and an extensive chronology of key events mean the reader can immediately orientate themselves as to which point of the war is under consideration. The translation is a modernised version of the classic Crawley text and reads well. This Landmark edition, like the sister editions of Herodotus and Xenophon, is superb and by far the best and most user-friendly edition of any ancient text ever produced. Not only are the major political incidents and battles covered but there are a plethora of side stories, speeches, and details on other contemporary powers, notably, Persia. Crawley & Victor Davis HansonĬovering the conflict between Sparta and Athens and their respective allies in the 5th century BCE this is a fascinating insight into ancient Greek politics, war and society in a crucial period of Greece's history.

The Landmark Thucydides by Thucydides