The Landmark Thucydides: A Comprehensive Guide to the Peloponnesian War
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 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. Robert Strassler's new edition removes these obstacles by providing a new coherence to the narrative overall, and by effectively reconstructing 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 numerous other useful features. In any list of the Great Books of Western Civilization, The Peloponnesian War stands near the top. This authoritative new edition will ensure that its greatness is appreciated by future generations.
Thucydides' History of the Peloponnesian War is one of the great books in the Western tradition, as well as its first true historical narrative. Editor Robert Strassler has annotated this classic text to make it more accessible to modern readers and added dozens of maps for easy reference. A helpful introduction places Thucydides in proper historical context and a series of short appendices focus on particular aspects of life and war during the period. But the bulk of the book itself, where Thucydides chronicles the long struggle between Athens and Sparta, enjoys an unexpected freshness on these pages--partly due to Strassler's magnificent editorial labors, but mostly because it's a great story resonant with heroes, villains, bravery, desperation, and tragedy. Every library should have a copy of Thucydides in it, especially libraries on military history, and The Landmark Thucydides is without question the best version available.
The Landmark Thucydides: A Comprehensive Guide to the Peloponnesian War Accessories
 The Landmark Herodotus: The Histories
The Iliad of Homer
Sophocles I: Oedipus The King, Oedipus at Colonus, Antigone (The Complete Greek Tragedies)
The Histories (Penguin Classics)
Aeschylus I: Oresteia: Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, The Eumenides (The Complete Greek Tragedies) (Vol 1)
The History
The Histories (Oxford World's Classics)
The Peloponnesian War
The Republic Of Plato: Second Edition
The Odyssey of Homer
The Landmark Thucydides: A Comprehensive Guide to the Peloponnesian War Reviews
It was horrifying. I've never read a book with such a terrible binding, and I had to dispose of it by the end since it was just a pile of separate sheets of paper. This edition of Thucydides is really excellent. Every twenty pages or so a large section of the text would break off and fall out of the book. However, as I read it (over the course of a week), the book completely fell apart. There are maps and/or images of artifacts on almost every page, along with marginal summaries, and a lot of helpful appendices.
The book was brand new and arrived in excellent condition. Thank you for your timely service.
This happened to every student in our class. Such a fantastic edition of a classic should obviously be sewn, rather than glued, but the publisher has apparently tried to cheap it out with an inferior glued binding which, I repeat, WILL NOT LAST. By all means, use this edition, but if you want to keep it, BUY THE HARDCOVER. This is a superb edition of one of the greatest books ever written. We wrote the publisher as a group, but did not receive an adequate reaponse. However, there is a MAJOR CAVEAT: the paperback edition has a TERRIBLE BINDING, and will fall apart on you as you read it, guaranteed.
I became instantly fascinated by the history behind the movie and started buying books on the ancient Greeks to learn more. Don't let the fact this book was written over 2,000 years ago sway you from reading it. It is imperative that you read Thucydides with lots of maps of ancient Greece so you can follow the narrative of battles taking place around Attica, Peloponnese, and surrounding islands. It took me a few pages to become accustomed to it, but I became so engrossed in Thucydide's narrative that it wasn't really an issue for me. If you've ever had a passing interest in ancient Greek history, in particular ancient military battles, Thucydides would be a good starting point.
However, after I happened to watch the movie 300 (I know, that movie is basically all fantasy and action Hollywood style, but it was still good). The Landmark Thucydides was very helpful in that regard. I have only read this translation (Crawley), and although it isn't written in a direct style of English, I found it was surprisingly easy to read. It had a story-like quality and feel to the narrative that I enjoyed immensely and I found myself quickly enthralled. Prior to investing the money into purchasing this version of the History of the Peloponnesian War, I borrowed a different version at the library that didn't include maps or appendices to explain about ancient Greek society and life. That was a wrong move for a novice.
It is easier to understand what is going on if you have good maps. The book is quite hefty so you'll have a hard time lugging it around, but all you really need is a quiet spot to settle down and read.
I'll admit I was hesitant about reading Thucydides because I'm not a big fan of non-fiction or a serious military history buff, and more specifically, was never that interested in ancient Greek history. I was pleasantly surprised to find that this book didn't really read as a "history book".
Thucydides' words literally came alive from the pages, and it was eerie how many things he observed so long ago still hold true today. At times I had to stop and remember that this author has been dead and gone for over 2,000 years. There are enough maps scattered throughout the book, in addition, with side margins and footnotes that I felt were very helpful for the beginner.
I would recommend reading this book slowly, it's not meant to be read quickly, but to savor and ponder over what you have just read.
The maps and the notes, not to mention a brief synopsis of each chapter makes the work fit in its own context. A must by for any ancient historian. Like the Landmark Herodotus, this version of Thucydides; work is unparalleled.
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