Thuc is generally acknowledged as being a difficult writer to read, especially for students only a few years into their studies, but this edition eases the reader into his style. Copious notes aid the reader with the more trying sentences and helpful "summaries" give an overview of important sections. I think I've read someone describing the treatment here of Perikles' Funeral Oration as a "tour de force" - and, considering Perikles' (or Thuc's?) at times bafflingly scattered sentence structure, it is certainly helpful to have someone such as this author to guide you along. I did come out of this experience with a bittersweet affection for Thuc, and it was partly due to this edition of the Greek text. Mr J F Rusten knows his stuff and I'm really glad he's chosen to share that knowledge.

This book deals with one of the most philosophical observers on the human condition in the most boring and "scholarily" manner. Consider that Orwin has spent over 15 years writing this, it should read better than an average graduate student paper. Orwin's take, for example, on the Plague is formulac and vague. (how many times can Orwin use the word, "body" to explain this passage?) Much more could have been said on the plagues relationship to political ideas, for example. Overall, this work serves to illustrate that Orwin is better suited to write as a journalist and not someone concerned with ideas.

Thucydides was a grand historian; as such presents facts at the best of his knowledge; therefore studying Thucydides we do not study his political views but the politics prevailing in classical greece. There are two kinds of works in political philosophy: those constructing a theory and those analyzing existing ones.

It is this latter the theme of the work of Mr Orwin; in specific he analyzes the political practicies of the Pelloponesian War; and as such it is a study of interstate relations, since greek cities were city-states.

One has to congratulate Mr Orwin for been able through an adequate understanding of greek political theory (as reported by Thucidides, but NOT formed by him) to point out how modern these theories are (especially the Melos Chapter should be read by any student of interstate relations).

Recommended warmly!

Dont be confused by the relatively low ranking, this book is good. The only trouble is that it only contains fragments of the greatest historians ever. Though this is what the editor set out to do, you will feel cheated by not having the whole story to read. If all you want is a glimpse at what made the ancient historians so special, this is the book for you. However, chances are that you will want the complete story as well, something this collection cant offer.

As a relative new-comer to the delights of Thucydides I was at first a little in awe of the author's obvious scholarship. The book was rigorous and well-ordered, as I had expected, having heard much of Timothy Rood's abilities while at University. In particular, the areas of the book where Mr Rood moved from the specific to the general were a delight, and I hope that he should see fit to expand his horizons a little were he to author another work in this field. Chapter 5 of the book, where he animadverts to the inevitable tension between the narrative and dialogic elements of the "History", is particularly luminous. Areas that could have been explicated better include the bizarre episode involving the bathing of soldiers' feet in hot water, referred to in Chapter 7, something that has mystified Thucydides scholars for years, and the barely comprehensible references to drunkenness that pepper later parts of the "History". Aside from those few omissions and a litter of singular infelicities of expression in the last two chapters, the work is a numinous one, indispensable for all advanced students wishing to immerse themselves, to quote Gustave Sephier, in "the clamorous and vociferating uproar of Thucydidean narrative".