Genealogy Books - The History of the Peloponnesian War: Revised Edition (Penguin Classics)

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Spotlight customer reviews:
Customer Rating:

Summary: Slow to start but quite rewarding!
Comment: I had to read this for my Great Books class in college and LOVED it! True it starts out really slow
and the scads of Greek names got so confusing I had to start writing them down to keep them straight
in my head, but once you get to the battle of Thermopyle the story moves like pure drama. Great
stuff.

Customer Rating:

Summary: Deep truths about human nature
Comment: What a silly debate is taking place on this page! Who cares if Thucydides' account of the war is
factually accurate? When have you ever read a factually accurate account of a war, that is without
moral or political bias?

I read _History of the Peloponnesian War_ in search of information
broader than just the Athenian-Spartan conflict. This book is about humans in political society,
not about Athenians. I find examples of crowds swayed by rhetoric rather than facts; of
contemporary debates between power and morality; of social breakdown in times of great stress; of
perennial logistical truths about the difficulty of fighting a war on multiple fronts. I read
about the Delian League and learn about NATO.

This is a great book, and a must read for anyone
interested in contemporary world politics!

Customer Rating:

Summary: A must read in classical history.
Comment: An excellent account of the destructive war between Athens and Sparta from 431 to 404 B.C. The book
details three theaters of war--mainland Greece, Sicily and Asia Minor. Thucydides is probably at his
best when he details speeches given by various statesmen or generals (even if they are most
probably fictitious or highly suspect). This book is, in my opinion, much more engaging than
Herodotus' "Histories". I would try to convince anyone to buy this book. Read it!

Customer Rating:

Summary: A controversial account of a fascinating time
Comment: Reading some of the reviews of this book seems to be almost as interesting as reading the book
itself! However, I do feel the need to set the record straight on a few points. While it is true
that most of the content of the speeches that Thucydides records are historically inaccurate, it is
a grave fallacy to say that the facts he records are "lies." As was true of all authors of the
time, Thucydides' text was written to further a political, military, and social agenda. The
speeches of the work are not recorded verbatim, granted, but does that make Pericles' funeral
oration any less beautiful and poignant? It reminded me very significantly of Vietnam, in all
honesty. Instead of holding Thucydides to a modern historical standard, why not appreciate him for
the excellent speechwriter and persuasive argumentarian that he was?

Customer Rating:

Summary: Contrary to the first reviewer, I found it AMAZINGLY honest.
Comment: As I began to read this book, and the insightful remark that people tend to find the past grander
than the present was made, I thought I was reading an introduction by a modern author.
Thucydides is not only a good author, but an admirably resourceful and analytical philosopher. For
instance, when tidal waves were destroying towns, he was keen enough to realize that they were the
result of earthquakes, instead of mindlessly writng it off to the wrath of the gods. But this
history is by know means dry. His account of the plague in Athens, and the speeches and battles he
recorded were all very interesting and at times extroardinarily dramatic. I think this book is the
lost treasure of the library, exiled to some remote shelf, not having been checked out since 1985,
binding shredded and falling off, but as they say, never judge a book by it's cover.

P.S. I'm
not flaming any one, but when I read the top review on this page, I was offended. The fact that
they (he, she, it)condemned this book without basis, and most likely, without reading it, probably
made someone decide not to read this masterpiece.

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