"But the length of the Peloponnesian War was drawn out over a long time; and in the course of the war, disasters unfolded in Greece such as never had occurred in the comparable space of time. Never had so many cities been taken and left in ruins-some by Barbarians, others by Greeks themselves as they warred against each other. Indeed several of those cities captured suffered a change of inhabitants. Never had some many human beings been forced into exile or had there been so much bloodshed-either as a result of the war itself or the resulting civil insurrections."
-Thucydides

V.D. Hanson's magisterial account of the internecine conflict between the Greeks is a great read. A preeminent Classicist, Hanson looks at the War through an interesting eye. Most people seem unaware that the victors of battles such as Marathon and Thermopylae ended up fighting against each other. Even fewer realize that the Spartans, the erstwhile "heroes" of the movie 300, would end up getting financial help from the very same Persians they made their reputation against.

The Athenians with their Delian league was a sea-borne power. Sparta and the Peloponnesian League was a land power. This strange balance ended up making the conflict drag on for years beyond its course, as both sides tried to find strategies that worked.

The entire devastating conflict, its causes, and results are superbly explained by Dr. Hanson. He also brings the military historian's viewpoint to the forces and engagements of this lengthy war. Full of fascinating information and tidbits, this is a must-have book for anyone interested in the Peloponnesian War.

If one is looking for a narrative of the Peloponnesian War, this is not the book for you. This book delves deeply into aspects of the war such as how pivotal the naval component was, the effects of the Athenian plagues. sieges and ground combat, etc. I advise any reader to scrutinize the notes towards the end of the book. They are quite extensive and provide good complimentary reading.
Mr. Hanson's writing style takes some getting used. His manner tends to be a bit on the dry side but the quality of the research is top notch. The maps are quite good.

Rather than writing about the ins and outs of the fighting and politicking, Hanson decided to give the reader an inside look at what it was like to live during the times of the Peloponnesian war. Fascinating in its insights, you really get a look at 5th century Greece. I loved the details about what it was like to be a rower on a trireme, or who the hoplites were expected to be. Even more interesting was the way these identities were changed over the course of the war. He really humanizes the common man in a long ago era.

Great book. Dials into the specifics of the War. Like, how hard it is to chop down olive trees when you need to get thousands of hoplites into Athens. Incredible. This book also makes me want to read some Sophocles and Euripides because of all the inside jokes those authors added to their plays for the veterans in the crowds!

For Dewey, this one is: 938.

Bought this one on Audible for $7.49, putting the 2020 book expenses to $162.95.

The Peloponnesian war is a sprawling and complicated conflict. My own attempt at reading Thucydides was foiled in mid 2020 when Chapter II’s description of the plague of Athens and subsequent demagoguery proved a little too relevant to the time…

VDH’s use of thematic chapters was a great organizational tool for better understanding how the Peloponnesian war was fought and how it differed from previous conflicts in the Ancient Greek world.

I never had any interest in the Peloponnesian war, but a friend highly recommended the book so I gave it a go. Wow! What an insane time to be alive. The author paints a vivid picture of the time, describing all the battles and tactics in detail, while managing to keep it entertaining.

This is a fantastic work by Victor Davis Hanson. Word to the wise: read a chronological history of the Peloponnesian War before you pick this up. I made that mistake and at many times was lost as VDH jumped back and forth.

This book is an examination of how the war was fought and is divided accordingly. Each chapter examines another element of the war (Walls, Ships, etc.) and its impact.

It is also an engrossing read for any student of the classics. VDH caught me completely by surprise when his examination of the times and events carefully examined the works of various Classical Greek playwrites and how their work was impacted by the trajectory of the 27 year war. Greek culture was severely impacted and VDH lays it out beautifully.

Hanson recites a litany of abuse and tragedy concerning a multi-decade long war that ruined ancient Greece. It's really too much to digest.
I'm just glad I didn't have to live through it. And in hindsight, the democratic Athenians were even larger bastards than the oligarchic Spartans. Go figure. Maybe there is a good reason for the Electoral College after all.

Victor Davis Hanson's A War Like No Other is not a re-capitulation of all of the things Thucydides wrote in his History of the Peloponnesian War. Hanson does not answer the question of why the Peloponnesian war was fought, but how. He is interested in the armour, the ships, the numbers, and most importantly, the experience of the soldiers and the citizens. He cites Thucydides, Xenophon, many contemporary playwrites, philosophers, and orators, and modern day geo-political analysts. This book is an excellent secondary source that provides immersion and context for Thucydides text. Hanson's approach is a more of a thematic approach rather than a chronological approach. He tries to keep things as chronologically accurate as well but when these two rails conflict, he chooses the thematic approach. He arranges his themes so that they are more chronologically sensible. For example, he puts his chapter on the invasion of the Attica at the beginning and he puts his chapter on ships toward the end because he only wants to deal with the Spartan victory at Aegospotamoi at the end. Hanson translates the horrific events to modern audiences by relating the magnitude of the war to what the magnitude would be today. While doing this, he is still able to keep the reader immersed in the world and war of the Greeks. The only fault I find in this book, a small omission, is the lack of discussion about the fault of Athenian democracy. It was precisely because of the "mob rule (Plato)" of Athenian democracy that the Athenians went on the disastrous Sicilian expedition in the first place. Hanson is right that it was an expedition that didn't have to fail. He is also right that the reward of victory would not be equal to the potential magnitude of destruction. However, Plato would also be right if he argued that it never had to happen in the first place. The fault isn't just on Alcibiades and Nicias but also on the people of Athens making a bad decision. This is a very small fault however and I am being nitpicky. I would recommend this book to the casual history buff and the student, teacher, or professor who wants to dive into Thucydides with a more full and familiar perspective.

I almost quit so many times in the first chapter. He seemed fixated on forcing uninteresting modern parallels and made a lot of problematic statements, such as harping on this being a "civil war" and insisting that Pericles didn't have a plan.

I'm glad I finished, because it was full of a lot of helpful information (big-picture trends and cultural background, etc). But throughout, it suffered from sloppy writing. E.g. three sentences building to a point, but then the use of the exactly opposite conjunction than was called for. I like grapes. They are healthy and affordable. They are easy to pack. Despite this, I eat them every day. Huh? This type of error happened a lot, and a few sentences were just absurdly misplaced.

He is - I think - pretty clearly writing for a popular audience that doesn't necessarily have Thucydides memorized. Yet though I get this wasn't a chronological story of the war, he does make odd assumptions that he can just reference a battle and expect the reader to have remembered, from other sources, all the details as he makes points that depend on that knowledge. Yet other battles are described in great detail. So all in all, an odd, mixed bag.

A very comprehensive and educative read, full of ideas about human nature and the nature of war that go beyond just the scope of the Pelloponesian war... Sometimes it felt a bit orderless and repetitive though.

This book is a great follow on for anyone who has read "The Peloponnesian War" or if you have interest in the debates in how that war is compared to so many conflicts up till present day.

The book explores the inconsistencies in what is assumed about Athens and Sparta which unfortunately misinform the current debate. Additionally, it is an ode to the ignored or forgotten soldiers and civilians who died in mostly unknown places, long after the beautiful speeches compelled people to war.