The Stalingrad of the ancient world, this is an immensely readable, brilliant, brutal and vivid history of the greatest and bloodiest war of ancient Greece. The Peloponnesian War, fought 2,500 years ago between oligarchic Sparta and democratic Athens for control of Greece, is brought spectacularly to life in this magnificent study. Kagan demonstrates the relevance of this cataclysmic event to modern times in all its horror and savagery. As two uncompromising empires fight a war of survival from diametrically opposing political, social and cultural positions, the seemingly invincible glory of Athens crumbles in tragedy. Athenian culture and politics was unmatched in originality and fertility, and is still regarded as one of the peak achievements of Western civilisation. Dramatic poets such as Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides and Aristophanes raised tragedy and comedy to a level never surpassed; architects and sculptors were at work on the Acropolis; natural philosophers like Anaxagoras and Democritus were exploring the physical world, and philosophers like Socrates were dissecting the realm of human affairs. All this was lost to this bloody conflict. In this work of brilliant scholarship, Kagan illustrates his remarkable ability to interpret these events as a part of the universality of human experience. His clear expertise in both the ancient world and the wars of the 20th-century are combined with his storytelling gifts to give an unforgettable portrait of this pivotal war that has shaped the world as we know it.

作者唐納德•卡根（Donald Kagan）（1932- ），美國著名曆史學傢，耶魯大學古典學與曆史學斯特林教席榮譽退休教授，古希臘曆史研究的權威學者，1958年獲得俄亥俄州立大學博士學位，2002年獲頒美國國傢人文奬章，2005年當選為該年度傑弗遜人文大師，著有《雅典帝國的滅亡》（1987）、《沉睡中的美國》（2000）、《西方的遺産》（2000）、《伯羅奔尼撒戰爭的爆發》（2003）等，最新一部作品《修昔底德》由維京齣版社推齣。