Publisher Description
Thucydides’ classic chronicle of the war between Athens and Sparta from 431 to 404 BCE persists as one of the most brilliant histories of all time. As one who actually participated in the conflict, Thucydides recognized the effect it would have on the history of Greece above all other wars. With a passion for accuracy and a contempt for myth and romance, he compiled an exhaustively factual record of the disaster that eventually ended the Athenian empire.
Conflicts between Athens and Sparta over shipping, trade, and colonial expansion came to a head in 431 BCE, when the entire Greek world was plunged into twenty-seven years of war. This watershed event concerns not only military prowess but also perennial conflicts between might and right, imperial powers and subject peoples. Extraordinary writing, scrupulous methods, and keen political insight make this account a joy to read.
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“This is an astounding legacy from two and a half millennia ago which very existence clearly prove that 1. Mankind’s intelligence has not increased one iota over the last two centuries, and in most likelihood nor over the preceding centuries prior to these annals of sophistry in which you can find the origin of pretty much every major speech of every major leader of every major (or minor) country or power ever since. 2. Since we clearly never seem to learn anything from history (the very concept which in essence was coined by this text and which simply means something like “the telling of what has happened” but that from the very beginning was mired in sophistry (yes, I used the word twice and if you don’t know what it means go look it up), we are truly doomed to repeat it. The only difference between now and then is that nowadays we have the technology to easier ruthlessly kill people while we film the very act of murder through drones with built in cameras, operated from of all places, Nevada, home of the gambling capital of the world.”
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S.J. (4 out of 5 stars)
