The Landmark Thucydides - by Robert B Strassler (Paperback)

About the Book

This revised edition of Richard Crawley's classic 1874 translation is enhanced with more than 100 maps, extensive annotations, brief biographies of important figures, and invaluable historical, political, and cultural background.

Book Synopsis

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.

Considered 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.

However, this classic book has long presented obstacles to the uninitiated reader. Written centuries before the rise of modern historiography, Thucydides' narrative is not continuous or linear. 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.

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. Based on the venerable Richard Crawley translation, updated and revised for modern readers, The Landmark Thucydides includes a vast array of superbly designed and presented maps, brief informative appendices by outstanding classical scholars on subjects of special relevance to the text, explanatory marginal notes on each page, an index of unprecedented subtlety and depth, and numerous other useful features. Readers will find that with this edition they can dip into the text at any point and be immediately oriented with regard to the geography, season, date, and stage of the conflict.

In any list of the Great Books of Western Civilization, The Peloponnesian War stands near the top. This handsome, elegant, and authoritative new edition will ensure that its greatness is appreciated by future generations.

Review Quotes

The Boston Globe Thoroughly readable....Anyone interested in the culture of conflict -- political as well as military, contemporary as well as ancient -- can learn much from this durable work.

David Denby Los Angeles Times A magnificent edition of the great historian's The Peloponnesian War.

Donald Kagan author of On the Origins of War and Pericles of Athens This is the best book with which to start study of Thueydides and the Peloponnesian War.

Paul A. Rahne The Washington Times Without question, this is the finest edition of Thueydides history ever produced; It is a treasure.

About the Author

Robert B. Strassler is an unaffiliated scholar whose articles have appeared in the Journal of Hellenic Studies. He lives in Brookline, Massachusetts.