Thucydides on Strategy

A fresh look at the ancient general and scholar's classic History of the Peloponnesian War, from the perspective of modern diplomacy and war.

Masterfully crafted and surprisingly modern, History of the Peloponnesian War has long been celebrated as an insightful, eloquent, and exhaustively detailed work of classical Greek history. The text is also remarkable for its deep political and military dimensions, and scholars have begun to place the work alongside Sun Tzu's The Art of War and Clausewitz's On War as one of the great treatises on strategy. The perfect companion to Thucydides' impressive History, this volume details the specific strategic concepts at work within the History of the Peloponnesian War and demonstrates, through case studies of recent conflicts in Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Iraq, the continuing relevance of Thucydidean thought to an analysis and planning of strategic operations. Some have even credited Thucydides with founding the discipline of international relations. Written by two scholars with extensive experience in this and related fields, Thucydides on Strategy situates the classical historian solidly in the modern world of war.

'I read Thucydides on Strategy with considerable interest, pleasure and care. The authors have made an original contribution to scholarship...and have managed to synthesise a coherent whole that goes far to explain how Athens lost and the Peloponnesians won this war.' Karl Walling, Professor of Policy and Strategy, U.S. Naval War College

'An excellent companion to the History, and an aid to the essential reflection that Thucydides's work requires.' Lieutenant General (Retd) Sir John Kiszely, author of General Hastings 'Pug' Ismay: Soldier, Statesman, Diplomat A New Biography

'The wisdom in this splendid book could save our current politics from many follies. If only our politicians, civil servants and soldiers took the time to read and understand it.' Colin S. Gray, Professor of International Politics and Strategic Studies, University of Reading

'Thucydides, as he himself anticipated, wrote not only the history of the Peloponnesian War. He wrote the history of the Napoleonic Wars, World War I, World War II, and the Cold War.' Louis Halle

'International relations continue to be a recurring struggle for wealth and power among independent actors in a state of anarchy. The classic history of Thucydides is as meaningful a guide to the behaviour of states today as when it was written in the fifth century B.C.E.' Robert Gilpin