Book Description
Written four hundred years before the birth of Christ, this detailed contemporary account of the struggle between Athens and Sparta stands an excellent chance of fulfilling the author's ambitious claim that the work "was done to last forever." The conflicts between the two empires over shipping, trade, and colonial expansion came to a head in 431 b.c. in Northern Greece, and the entire Greek world was plunged into 27 years of war. Thucydides applied a passion for accuracy and a contempt for myth and romance in compiling this exhaustively factual record of the disastrous conflict that eventually ended the Athenian empire.


Language Notes
Text: English, Greek (translation)


From the Publisher
Founded in 1906 by J.M. Dent, the Everyman Library has always tried to make the best books ever written available to the greatest number of people at the lowest possible price. Unique editorial features that help Everyman Paperback Classics stand out from the crowd include: a leading scholar or literary critic's introduction to the text, a biography of the author, a chronology of her or his life and times, a historical selection of criticism, and a concise plot summary. All books published since 1993 have also been completely restyled: all type has been reset, to offer a clarity and ease of reading unique among editions of the classics; a vibrant, full-color cover design now complements these great texts with beautiful contemporary works of art. But the best feature must be Everyman's uniquely low price. Each Everyman title offers these extensive materials at a price that competes with the most inexpensive editions on the market-but Everyman Paperbacks have durable binding, quality paper, and the highest editorial and scholarly standards.


About the Author
Thucydides (c. 460 b.c.-400 b.c.) was a general who was exiled for his failure to defend the Greek city of Amphipolis in Thrace. During his exile, he began compiling histories and accounts of the war from various participants.

Rex Warner (1905-1986) was a classical scholar of Wadham College, Oxford, and served as university professor of the University of Connecticut.

M. I. Finley was a professor of ancient history and master of Darwin College, Cambridge. He died in 1986.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

The entire Greek world plunged into three decades of bloodshed in 431 B.C., when the ongoing friction between Athens and Sparta over shipping, trade, and colonial expansion exploded into war. Ten years into the struggle, the Athenian general Thucydides was dismissed and banished for his delay in assisting the besieged city of Amphipolis. Thucydides' military failure and disgrace ended in a triumph for posterity: the former general retired to record the events of the war, resulting in one of the world's great history books and the first true historical narrative of Western literature. Thucydides' chronicle of the disastrous 27-year conflict between the Greek city-states resonates with tales of heroism and villainy, deeds of courage and desperation, and the eternal folly of human conflict.