Rating: 
Summary: Must Read.
Review: This is an amazing book. I was shaken up, disturbed, excited, and mostly deep in thought. The book can be enjoyed at so many different levels. For lovers of historic fictional adventure stories, this book has more ancient maps, kingdoms, and exotic names and places than "Lord of the Rings" does. For lovers of military tactics and history, the book is loaded with detailed maps of the battlefields and blow by blow action. For lovers of game theory, how Athens and Sparta were drawn into a war, which they both wanted to avoid, is great study material. (Many similarities to the U.S. involvement in Vietnam that started in an advisory role.) For people who are interested in politics, there are excellent debates on democracy (while the democrats had their own slaves and ruled an empire by brute force!). For CEOs, the book shows how to take credit for anything good that happens, while how to avoid blame for anything that went wrong. (Humanity didn't change that much after all!). But the main interest of this book is not just its relevance to current events or lessons to be learned. Instead, the book is fascinating because of the events covered, the interesting people and culture. I wished that Prof. Kagan analyzed things a little more and gave background information. For example King Sitalces of Thrace had an army of 150,000 men including 50,000 cavalry. How is it possible that such an unimportant area as Thrace can field so many soldiers when Athens and Sparta had only a few thousand soldiers in most battles? Why was it so hard to capture walled cities that were defended by a few hundred soldiers? After all, Alexander the Great and the Romans captured these cities so easily. I wish there was a map showing ALL Greek colonies in the Mediterranean and Black Sea including Sicily, Spain, etc. and showing where the grain is coming from the north. Maybe an appendix would have been nice. This book should be required reading for all high schools and colleges. No man can call himself educated, if he/she hasn't studied the events of this book. Stop listening to news, reading newspapers, and get really educated. Ozdal Barkan.
Rating: 
Summary: Why Read Thucydides?
Review: This is an excellent work. It is clearly written and interesting. Several times in my life I had attempted to plow through Thucydides, but could simply not bring myself to do it. Kagan's work made this read a pleasure. Better to trust a contemporary who has spent his life distilling Greek history than to attempt to get a clear picture from an author whose account ends before the war itself ends. Plus if you go to the original you get to wade through what could be a dreadful translation.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Book!
Review: This most excellent book provides a readable and concise history of the complex events surrounding the Peloponnesian War. The author has taken the confusing and often contradictory epiosdes associated with this conflict and broken them down into readable segments. Those who have waded their war through Thucycidides should find this book an essential companion to that work. While reading Thucycidides provides the fascination of a primary source, a lot of his writing is often difficult to follow as the narrative often goes on and on. Kagan provides a lot of recent scholarship to help compare the views of Thuycidides and place them in historical context. He also provides some background information on the strengths and weaknesses of Athens and Sparta as well as much needed historical background on events leading up to war in 431 BC. His explanation of why these two leading city states in Greece deicded to go to war at this time provides much valuable insight to understanding the reasons for this conflict. Kagan also provides numerous excellent maps which enable the reader to follow the often complicated action as the war shifts from Attica, to the Pelopannese and then to the Aegean, Sicily and Ioanian Islands. Most editions of Thuycidides do not provide mapes which also makes Kagan's book esstenial in understanding this war. Kagan also provides much interesting biographical information on the numerous famous leaders associated with this conflict. Pericles, Cleon, Brassidas, Lysander and others come to full light as we gain insights to why they made certain key strategic decisions. Kagan also questions why certain decisions were made, taking the reader into the mind-set of the time which provides much needed analysis. Anyone who has read Thuycicdes must read this book. I can not recommend highly enough this fine work to help the reader understand this distant, yet vitally important war. The Peloponnesian War was truly a Greek Tragedy. We learn how this conflict would forever change the Greek world. The barbarism and attrocities committed by both sides would have far reaching influence in future Greco-Roman wars. The versatility of this conflcit should provide fascinating reading to the true military historian. Here lies the origins of combined land and naval operations that were used extensively by both sides. Again, essential reading for any interested in this fascinating period of Classical history.
Rating:
Summary: A Comprehensive, but Readable History
Review: This readable and detailed history for a general audience analyzes at length how a true democracy behaves under pressure. The sympathetic treatment Kagan gives to the subject surpasses any other "war-history" in recent memory. Those reviewers complaining here about his writing style, or the "dryness" of the story, must have read a different book. Professor Kagan brings to his writing all of the keen insight, shrewd analysis, and dynamic love for his subject that have made his courses popular with Yale undergraduates. Anyone interested in a keen and sustained analysis of how democratic states like Athens (or the U.S.) respond to substantial threats of destruction, and how government is affected by them, will find something of interest here.
Rating:
Summary: Tough Story Well Told
Review: What fascinates about the Peloponnesian War is its Lear-like dimensions. High stakes, human folly, misjudgments, and all done on a global level. But for all that, it's a tough story to tell -- long, full of twists and turns, and with motivations lost to us overt the long millenia. Nevertheless, to understand America's decisions and the weaknesses of our leaders -- (...)-- Kagan's work is essential. He boils an immensely complex story to its essentials, guides us with much needed maps, and makes the pitfalls of contemporary global politics painfully clear.
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