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The Landmark Thucydides: A Comprehensive Guide to the Peloponnesian War
This revised edition of Richard Crawley's classic 1874 translation is enhanced with more than 100 maps, extensive annotations, brief biographies of important figures, and invaluable historical, political, and cultural background.
Hardcover, 752 pages
Published
April 1st 2008
by Free Press
(first published 1996)
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I first read Thucydides in college, using Rex Warner's translation in the Penguin edition. As a frosh with little background in ancient history and political science, I didn't have the proper perspective to realize Th.'s critical place in western historiography and political thought. As a junior, I re-read Th., this time in a course on ancient historians. At that point, having had modest exposure to Hobbes, Machiavelli, Burke, Clausewitz and the like, I was better equipped to appreciate Th.'s ...more
Favorite quote:
"The absence of romance in my history will, I fear, detract somewhat from its interest, but if it is judged worthy by those inquirers who desire an exact knowledge of the past as an aid to the understanding of the future, which in the course of human things must resemble if it does not reflect it, I shall be content.
In fine I have written my work not as an essay with which to win the applause of the moment but as a possession for all time." -Thucydides
"The absence of romance in my history will, I fear, detract somewhat from its interest, but if it is judged worthy by those inquirers who desire an exact knowledge of the past as an aid to the understanding of the future, which in the course of human things must resemble if it does not reflect it, I shall be content.
In fine I have written my work not as an essay with which to win the applause of the moment but as a possession for all time." -Thucydides
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This is really a wonderfully massive edition for anyone at all interested in Thucydides and his great history. This book has copious notes, maps, illustrations, and a 'running header' at the top of each page and also in the margins. The 'header' in the margins (or marginal note) gives a brief description of the action in the adjacent narrative. Those that make notes in texts (for shame!) like me will be grateful for the additional 'white space' these 'marginal notes' create. Of...more
This is really a wonderfully massive edition for anyone at all interested in Thucydides and his great history. This book has copious notes, maps, illustrations, and a 'running header' at the top of each page and also in the margins. The 'header' in the margins (or marginal note) gives a brief description of the action in the adjacent narrative. Those that make notes in texts (for shame!) like me will be grateful for the additional 'white space' these 'marginal notes' create. Of...more
Finally finished the whole thing. It's quite a piece, and I highly recommend the Landmark edition which comes with maps and tables that greatly aid in the enormous task of parsing all of these old places and names into a coherent military campaign. While I do admire Thucydides direct, strictly empirical style, there's so much less of the kooky local flavor here which made Herodotus so rich, as a result it can be slow and ponderous at times. That being said, the speeches and dialogues Thucydides ...more
There's no reason to "review" Thucydides himself -- he's The primary source for the Peloponnesian War, and his history is incredibly well written, smart, insightful and exciting. It holds up incredibly well and is very readable for the student or they hobbyist today.
The only thing here to "review" is this edition itself, which is just plain awesome. Full of good notes, maps on nearly every page (and the kind of maps you want, they show the area and places being re...more
The only thing here to "review" is this edition itself, which is just plain awesome. Full of good notes, maps on nearly every page (and the kind of maps you want, they show the area and places being re...more
Most of what I liked about The Landmark Herodotus applies to the The Landmark Thucydides as well. The maps and format of this earlier edition are not quite as smoothly drafted as the The Landmark Herodotus, but the editors earn boundless praise for their efforts at making these classical works comprehensible for modern readers.
Thucydides presents a stark contrast to his near contemporary Herodotus. He avoids the narrative wandering and anthropological surveys which fill The Histori...more
Thucydides presents a stark contrast to his near contemporary Herodotus. He avoids the narrative wandering and anthropological surveys which fill The Histori...more
I've tried reading Thucydides about a dozen times over the last 20 years, finally finishing it earlier this year. The beginning (the period between the Persian and Peloponnesian Wars, Pericles' funeral oration) and end (the Syracusan expedition) are wonderful, but it bogs down pretty heavily in the middle. It's another of written history's great losses that the book ends when it does rather than covering the entire war. I have a soft spot for Xenophon, but he's second-rate.
Still,
http://bookcents.blogspot.com/2011/02/pe...
Why would anyone would want to read a 2,400 year old history written by an Athenian general exiled for failure. I’ll start with Thucydides’ own statement: “To hear this history rehearsed, for that there be inserted in it no fables, shall be perhaps not delightful. But he that desires to look into the truth of things done, and which (according to the condition of humanity) may be done again, or at least their like, he shall find enough herein ...more
Why would anyone would want to read a 2,400 year old history written by an Athenian general exiled for failure. I’ll start with Thucydides’ own statement: “To hear this history rehearsed, for that there be inserted in it no fables, shall be perhaps not delightful. But he that desires to look into the truth of things done, and which (according to the condition of humanity) may be done again, or at least their like, he shall find enough herein ...more
I bought this handsome edition when it was first published in 1996, dutifully slogged through the first book, then staggered across the room and put it back on the shelf. This spring, encouraged by a group of similarly eccentric aspirants, I read the whole thing. It's magnificent – a founding work of "historical consciousness" (a nod here to the neglected classic by John Lukacs) that is also, astonishingly, one of the best.
This is not easy reading by any means, but the maps...more
This is not easy reading by any means, but the maps...more
I cannot more highly commend this book to students of classical greece. Thucydides' history spans many different locations and persons, and it is difficult at best for the moderner to keep track; it is akin to casually mentioning Patton and then skipping right over to Macarthur - it only works if you are already familiar with the two men.
It is filled with maps, summaries, and notes. If you are even casually studying Thucydides or the Peloponnesian War, pick this up.
It is filled with maps, summaries, and notes. If you are even casually studying Thucydides or the Peloponnesian War, pick this up.
Thucydides largely created what we think of as historical style. He writes in a way that it seems he is merely reporting the facts with no particular axe to grind. That very appearance of non-partiality may mask a prejudice that Thucydides doesn't own up to. There are some great moments in the work, but a lot is taken up in battle strategies, and is a tough slog.
Molly
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review of another edition
Recommends it for:
anyone who has to read Thucydides
Shelves:
for-school
Reading Thucydides can be a painful experience. If you ever have/want to get a good understanding of what is actually going on, this is the book for you. There are helpful summaries of every little section, many many useful footnotes, and lots of maps in the places you need them most so you really have no excuse to have no idea what is going on. My Penguin Classics version of Thucydides is pretty much a waste of space on my bookshelf now. I will never pick this book up to read it for pleasur...more
I learned you need a lot of time to read it, and to study the maps. The little maps are a big help, when you don't know the topography of Persia. Just seeing the drawings that let you know that the Persians are entering a canyon with high walls on either side, and are about to be slaughtered adds a little something to the experience.
The first history in the modern sense (apologies to Herodotus who invented the genre). Thucydides, and Athenian general, wrote this history of the Peloponnesian Wars; admirable in its objectivity in discussing contemporary events, in its direct and descriptive style, and the author's grasp of cause and effect. It covers the history of the Hellenic race and ends, unfinished, in 411 B.C., seven years before the wars ended. The best-known passages are those relating Pericles' Funeral Oration, the ...more
After listening to Timothy Shutt and reading and listening to Victor Davis Hanson. I've decided, at 50, to turn over a new leaf and become an autodidact itinerant classics professor. So the Amazon brung me Xenophon, Thucydides, and Procopius. Coming to a town near you, look for it.
I feel smart after reading this book... if only because John Adams told John Quincy Adams that he must read it.
"History was the true source of "solid instruction," Adams wrote to the boy encouragingly. He must read Thucydides's history of the Peloponnesian War. There was no better preparation, whatever part he was called to play on the "stage of life." It was best read in the original Greek, of course, but he could find a reliable translation among his father...more
"History was the true source of "solid instruction," Adams wrote to the boy encouragingly. He must read Thucydides's history of the Peloponnesian War. There was no better preparation, whatever part he was called to play on the "stage of life." It was best read in the original Greek, of course, but he could find a reliable translation among his father...more
This book really saved my arse when we had to read it in Greek back in the day. They should have these for every ancient author. Imagine actually knowing what the heck is going on without having to consult six different textbooks! Next should be Julius Caesar.
Awesome edition; lots of footnotes and maps. Everybody should read Thucydides, not just soldiers. Lots of applicable lessons in coalition building for today. Besides, Alcibiades is hugely entertaining, and the story of Brasidas I always found so tragic.
I was reading this on a self-imposed political science project but I really had no idea it would be so compelling and evocative. There's an incredible sense of immediacy and even suspense. The sophistication and clarity of the writing is just astonishing... Am I gushing?!
Fantastic book. Well written history, with great maps, notes, and small essays that really help to illuminate the translated text. Highly recommended to anybody who thinks they want to try reading Thucydides without a professor.
What astonished me was the quality of Thucydides' historical narrative. His observations are profoundly incisive and similar to incisive analysis that we would read from our best contemporary historians.
So far, the annotation is really minimal and hardly worth calling "landmark," but after reading the Penguin addition of Thucydides, this format is easy to read and a gorgeous sight for sore eyes.
The History of the Peloponnesian War is one of a handful of books that I am grateful to my education for knowing about. It takes place after the Persian Wars, which many may now be familiar with after watching 300. Soon after the Greeks defeat the Persians, Athens and Sparta become political enemies. Before too long, the entire Balkan Peninsula is swept into a war between sides, and this book is the chronicle of that war. There is so much in this book. Massacres, speeches, plagues, sieges, ...more
See "The Landmark Herodotus" for info about the edition.
Thucydides' writing style is more serious and better researched than Herodotus, and is less story-ful, but still excellent.
Thucydides' writing style is more serious and better researched than Herodotus, and is less story-ful, but still excellent.
This is a very helpful edition, with maps, notes, and summaries. The only problem is that it is harder to carry around than a typical paperback edition of this book.
Numerous battles on multiple fronts, thousands of geographical references, battle scenes, dialogues, speeches, nice illustrations and maps for this edition.
Anyone interested in the Peloponnesian War will find this translation an easy to understand resource. It's one of the greatest stories ever told...
(A good annotated edition of a classic work is always an excellent find; the Landmark edition's reviews indicate this one is a winner.)
perhaps at the same time one of the most tedious and most fascinating books i've read. thucydides relates the history of the war between athens and sparta from 431-404BC. his meticulous attention to detail, tracing every development each year can drive you nuts, but his analysis is brilliant and his writing elegant. in particular, the speeches given by generals and politicians are rhetorical feasts. themes are the expansion of empire, the roles of justice and interest in politics, human nature, ...more
Didn't read all of it, but what I did read was great. I'd like to spend some more time with this one. The speeches are great.
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Thucydides (c. 460 B.C. – c. 395 B.C.) (Greek Θουκυδίδης, Thoukydídēs) was a Greek historian and author of the History of the Peloponnesian War, which recounts the 5th century B.C. war between Sparta and Athens to the year 411 B.C. Thucydides has been dubbed the father of "scientific history" due to his strict standards of evidence-gathering and analysis in terms of cause and effect with...more
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“Right, as the world goes, is only in question between equals in power, while the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must.”
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