The History of the Peloponnesian War

Commonly acknowledged as one of the earliest written accounts of history, this classic work of Thucydides chronicles the war between Athens and Sparta during the fifth century B.C. While dispassionately and accurately reporting the events of this ancient Greek war in a strict chronology, Thucydides includes the causes of the conflict, descriptions of battlefield strategy, political opinions, and all other aspects of the war in brilliant detail with the tactful insights 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 tragic drama. Though in part an analysis of war policy, The History is also a dramatic account of the rise and fall of Athens by an Athenian man. As such, it has the ring of historical warning that has sounded over two thousand years, continuing for modern military, politics, and international relations an ageless admonition.