Donald Kagan, The Peloponnesian War (New York: Viking, ), pp. It was Alfred North Whitehead who said that all Western philosophy is but a footnote. Donald Kagan. The Peloponnesian War. New York: Penguin Books, xxvii + pp. $ (paper), ISBN Reviewed by Janice J. The first volume of Donald Kagan’s acclaimed four-volume historyof the Peloponnesian War offers a new evaluation of the origins andcauses of the conflict, b.

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Excellent story that I had been waiting to get around to for a while now. Cornell University Yale University.
Lysander and the Spartans then impose their will on Athens and other colonies, setting up oppressive oligarchies and extractive institutions. Though Thucydides gets major billing, other Greek and Roman historians including Xenophon, Diodorus, Plutarch, are referenced as well.
Cleon Versus Diodotus Chapter Ten: The other part about notes and appendices I probably wouldn’t read them.

Read more Read less. Athens held the upper hand on the seas. That is true today and it was true in BC. Athens should not be given a moral carte blanche pelopponnesian they were a democracy and, coincidently, we are today governed by democratic principles. The resulting book “The Peloponnesian War” has become a modern classic. That Athens spent nearly as much time forcing the members of the League back into line wasted valuable time, men, materiale and money that could have been put to better use elsewhere.
Then again, I’m less interested in wars and battles than in the individuals, philosophy and politics of this time period, so perhaps if you’re already interested in the Peloponnesian War, this is the book for you. The Disaster in Sicily Chapter Twenty: Apr 14, William2 rated it really liked it Shelves: Sparta-strong, legendary and unrivaled land power, oligarchic and always fearful of helotic revolt, leaders of the fractious Peloponnesian league, which included the peloponnfsian cities of Corinth, Thebes and Argos, rivals to the Athenian led league.
An excellent examination of the grand struggle between the two very different Superpowers and traditions of the ancient Greek world.

Withoutabox Submit to Film Festivals. For this purpose, the book is well suited since it both sums up some of the period covered by Thucydides and includes events that occurred after his death before the end of the war. Like any scholar worth his salt, Kagan is conversant with the scholarly consensus, with which he is for the most part in step, though he occasionally offers alternative scenarios. For three decades in the fifth century B.
I will admit I’ve always struggled reading or studying the Peloponnesian War. AmazonGlobal Ship Orders Internationally. The message is fairly clear: Two rather different systems of government, with the Athenians famously having a democratic form.
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His late wife of sixty-two years, Myrna Kaganwas a teacher and historian in her own right, akgan the author of Vision in the Sky: Kagan manages ksgan serviceable one volume history but not an exciting and engrossing one. The Peloponnesian War is a magisterial work of history written for general readers, offering a fresh examination of a pivotal moment in Western civilization.
Through his kahan reading of the ancient texts, Kagan is able to fill in the historical blank spots. It also illustrates the resilience of a democratic people to rise up after a series of debilitating setbacks If there is anything to learn from Donald Kagan’s one-volume condensation of his scholarly four-volume treatment of the Peloponnesian War is, it is harder to end a war than to start it. Within a year of the peace treaty, Athens had restored its democracy, rebuilt its walls, and restored many of its colonies.
Amazon Drive Cloud storage from Amazon. Meanwhile in Athens in B.
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Although not all of them are sound or logical, they opened a vast field for the reader to contemplate on. Discover what to read next.
The Peloponnesian War by Donald Kagan | : Books
One person found this helpful. Frederick Kagan’s wife is Kimberly Kagana well-known military historian and founder and president of the Institute for the Study of War.
Greece early on was moving from a true democracy to a “republic of the first citizen,” where a general or other man of consequence had actual power and sway beyond statutes. Fifty years earlier, the united Greek states had defeated the Persian Empire and inaugurated an era of growth and achievement seldom matched and never surpassed.
I don’t feel that my understanding is horribly marred because peolponnesian is pro Pelolonnesian and I don’t get the feeling he is trying to sell war bonds for Wat.
Nonetheless, Kagan embarked upon a re-write of his four volumes fo In Donald Kagan published the first volume of what was to become his tetralogy entitled “A New History of the Peloponnesian War. After Pericles death, the Athenians begin having some success on offense and adopt a more aggressive strategy.
The contemporary history written by Thucydides is the best source for this complex story, but not the only one, and much of the value of this work lies in Kagan’s brilliant contextualization of his ancient predecessor’s work.
