This book is a concise, readable introduction to the Greek author
Thucydides, who is widely regarded as one of the foremost historians of
all time.
Why does Thucydides continue to matter today? Perez Zagorin answers this
question by examining Thucydides' landmark History of the Peloponnesian
War, one of the great classics of Western civilization. This history,
Zagorin explains, is far more than a mere chronicle of the conflict
between Athens and Sparta, the two superpowers of Greece in the fifth
century BCE. It is also a remarkable story of politics, decision-making,
the uses of power, and the human and communal experience of war. Zagorin
maintains that the work remains of permanent interest because of the
exceptional intellect that Thucydides brought to the writing of history,
and to the originality, penetration, and the breadth and intensity of
vision that inform his narrative.
The first half of Zagorin's book discusses the intellectual and
historical background to Thucydides' work and its method, structure, and
view of the causes of the war. The following chapters deal with
Thucydides' portrayal of the Athenian leader Pericles and his account of
some of the main episodes of the war, such as the revolution in Corcyra
and the Athenian invasion of Sicily. The book concludes with an
insightful discussion of Thucydides as a thinker and philosophic
historian.
Designed to introduce both students and general readers to a work that
is an essential part of a liberal education, this book seeks to
encourage readers to explore Thucydides--one of the world's greatest
historians--for themselves.
