*Illustrated
*Includes Table of Contents
Although Herodotus is known as the Father of History, Thucydides (460-395 B.C.) could have made a pretty good claim himself. Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War recounts the 5th century BC war between Greek city states Sparta and Athens through the year 411 BC. Due to this masterpiece, Thucydides has been dubbed the father of "scientific history", because of his strict standards of evidence-gathering and analysis in terms of cause and effect without reference to intervention by the gods, as outlined in his introduction to his work.
Thucydides has also been called the father of the school of political realism, which views the relations between nations as based on might rather than right. His text is still studied at advanced military colleges worldwide, and the Melian dialogue remains a seminal work of international relations theory. More generally, Thucydides showed an interest in developing an understanding of human nature to explain behavior in such crises as plague, massacres, as in that of the Melians, and civil war. Thucydides account of the war ends during the 21st year of the fighting, suggesting he died unexpectedly.
This edition of Thucydides‘ History of the Peloponnesian War is specially formatted with a Table of Contents and is illustrated with depictions of Thucydides.
