A very pleasant read for a scholarly work. I wish the end notes had been foot notes though. ( )

This is a really superb and readable account of one of the most important and fascinating wars of all time. Much like Barry Strauss, at his best Hanson can elucidate the complex historical issues involved and yet write simply enough for the average educated reader interested in the topic yet not possessing a specialist knowledge.

This work provides some difficulties in evaluating, mainly because it is somewhat difficult to figure out exactly what it is. It is not a narrative of the Peloponnesian War. Nor is it an examination of either the causes or long-term results of the War. It is not a piece of social commentary as these portions of the work are brief, shallow, generally worthless and easily ignored. More than anything, it is an effort by the author to provide the reader with something of a sense and feel for the War, as well as some discussion of how various aspects of warfare were conducted during this period.

Rather than provide a chronology of the various battles and campaigns, Hanson divides his work into a discussion of various aspects of warfare, such as sieges, land battles, warfare at sea, etc. Each chapter then becomes a mix of narrative discussion of battles and how that aspect of battle changed over time, as well as a more detailed look at just how this aspect of warfare was conducted. The chapter headings provide fairly clear indications of what aspect of warfare is to be discussed.

Once we break this work down to that level, it becomes easier to assess. Hanson writes well. His prose is lively and flowing and his style is nearly conversational. At times he wanders off in what seem to be tangents and quite frequently the chapter discussions seem not to clearly follow any discernable pattern. An excellent example of this somewhat erratic writing style comes in Chapter 6, Walls, which discusses siege warfare. He opens the chapter with a discussion of Platea and tells how a small number of Thebans advanced to the city in hopes of working their way inside to attack the democratic leaders in order to hand the city over to the larger force the following day. At this time the narrative breaks off as Hanson provides us with 5 paragraphs discussing Platea and how its strategic situation between Athens and Thebes - but far closer to Thebes, places the city in a precarious position. Then Hanson abruptly returns to his narrative discussing how events unfolded once the advance party entered the city.

This is fairly consistent throughout this work - that Hanson will deviate from the flow of his discussion into what reads very like a tangent. Generally this occurs just long enough - 500-1000 words - for a reader to become disconnected from the prior discussion, at which point Hanson returns to it. This causes the work to often read as disorganized and can be confusing. More consistency would have been far better - in the case of Platea, discussing the strategic situation of the city to open the chapter, followed by an unbroken narrative, would have made this much more readable.

However, once a reader has worked his or her way through these difficulties, the work contains some excellent information. The discussions on just how various aspects of warfare were conducted is very informative, particularly the contrasts showing how these tactics altered over time. Particularly telling is his discussion of how much more vicious warfare became characterized by a decrease in mercy shown to the defeated, an increase in massacres of civilians, etc. In particular, I felt the Chapter titled, "Ships," devoted to marine warfare, was particularly good. In each of these chapters a great deal of information is provided, not just on the overall usage of these aspects of war, but on the characteristics and skills of the individual hoplite, rower, etc. I do feel some value would have been added with some illustrations and more maps, however this is an excellent aspect of this work.

This is not one of those works which I would call, "valuable for the casual reader and student of Greek History alike." On the contrary, it breaks little new ground and the somewhat disorganized presentation will likely be very frustrating for those with an in-depth knowledge of the Peloponnesian War. However for someone who is new to the subject I believe it would be quite good. Hanson writes with a lively and engaging style and his detailed descriptions are quite understandable. However even for the newcomer I wouldn't read it as a stand-alone volume. Find yourself a good narrative of the Wars, such as Kagan, get a copy of Thucydides and settle down for a very informative and enjoyable read. ( )