The Archidamian War

The Peloponnesian War #2

by Donald Kagan

" The Archidamian War remains sober, judicious, and comprehensive. There is nothing else like it available in English―certainly nothing that takes all the modern scholarship into account.... But perhaps the most valuable achievement of the book is its carefully reasoned demolition of Thucydides's view―warmly embraced by too many scholars―that Pericles's war strategy was justifiable."
― Peter Green ― Times Literary Supplement This book, the second volume in Donald Kagan's tetralogy about the Peloponnesian War, is a provocative and tightly argued history of the first ten years of the war. Taking a chronological approach that allows him to present at each stage the choices that were open to both sides in the conflict, Kagan focuses on political, economic, diplomatic, and military developments. He evaluates the strategies used by both sides and reconsiders the roles played by several key individuals.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Classics, Ancient History, Military History, Greece, Historical

400 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1974

About the author

Donald Kagan (May 1, 1932 – August 6, 2021) was a Lithuanian-born American historian and classicist at Yale University specializing in ancient Greece. He formerly taught in the Department of History at Cornell University. Kagan was considered among the foremost American scholars of Greek history and is notable for his four-volume history of the Peloponnesian War.

Reviews

[James Murphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Archidamian War is the 2d volume in Kagan's massive history of The Peloponnesian War. This volume covers the war's first 10 years to 421 BC. Kagan writes with scholarly analysis and authority. Yet he makes it into a wonderfully engaging story, how Athens and Sparta raged and tore at each other competing for supremacy in the Aegean. In detailing all the political, diplomatic, and military developments of the war's opening decade, Kagan has to necessarily include the actions of the players, political and military, who determined the course of events. From the opening strategies of Athens' Pericles and Sparta's Archidamus to the exhausted Peace of Nicias and all the heroes and failures in between, Kagan never loses sight of the fact that history is made by individuals and social groups shaped by political ambitions. The result is history as immediate and human as anything in our time. This is magnificent history.

[Mikeshuler · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is not for the casual reader, but it does represent the very best work we will probably ever have for this crucial phase of the Peloponnesian War. The book is clear, concise and very insightful. His footnotes are simply outstanding as just about every idea or theory of earlier writers are given credit or dissected. If you have listened to Kagan's lectures at Yale (on YouTube for plebians such as myself), you can hear his voice leap off the page as he sternly admonishes a prior author's clumsy interpretation of events or gives credit where appropriate. My only complaint concerns the poor quality and scarcity of the maps, but that is simply remedied by keeping a good atlas of ancient Greece at the ready. In 1974 the standard of mapping was just not up to today's standards.

[Harpal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Do not read this book unless you are seriously interested in the Peloponnesian War. I was simulating a Spartan committee for model UN one year so I had to read it.

That disclaimer aside, this book is great if you're serious. The treatment of the material is very detailed and usually has first-rate analysis. Kagan is a great scholar. For me, undoubtedly his strength is the degree to which he dissects and explains the thought processes of the Athenians vis-a-vis the Spartans at each step of the war. Both come across as highly cerebral, though, surprisingly, the Spartans seem much more the doves and the Athenians more the hawks. This should come as no surprise to those familiar with the Melian Dialogue. The Ancients did some crazy stuff.

[Ben Adams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a great and deep look into the war between Athens and Sparta. Every single action taken by either side is given its place, and a thorough description of how and why it came about.

Kagan’s descriptions of the great military actions of this part of the war are peerless, and drive home all of the strategic implications. I was especially impressed by his treatment of the Battle of Pylos/Sphacteria and his description of Brasidas’ northern campaign, including an extremely well argued rehabilitation of Cleon, who he believes is unfairly maligned by Thucydides.

This is your stop if you truly want dig more deeply into the history of this fascinating war.

[Brandie · Rating 4 out of 5]

My second Kagan history book.
Not bad overall.

It's not dry and Kagan does a good job (of what I assume is) presenting lots of information from the war. A few parts of the book did seem to move slowly, but part of me wishes I could go back in time to see those boats and crew rowing and sneaking by and all that jazz!

[Joshua Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kagan strikes again - his brilliance in analysis, clarity, and humour always make for good reading.

This critical assesment of Thucydides' telling of the Archidamian War produces some very interesting perspective changes, for example; Cleon good?! Pericles policy bad?! The revised decision in Mytilene actually not that 'humanitarian'

Good book.

[Terri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Meant more for a scholar than a casual reader

This book, nevertheless, is clear and concise. That is if you overlook all those Greek names ! I learned a bit about Ancient Greece as well how the leaders of both the Athenians and the Spartans conducted a war.

[Binston Birchill · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you’ve read an introduction to the Peloponnesian War and have read Thucydides and still want to dive in deeper then this quartet of books by Donald Kagan is the place to go. Not only does he provide arguments for or against ancient and modern analysis of the war, he also gives a very good picture of the war moving from theatre to theatre. My comprehension of the war has increased dramatically with the first half of this series. The maps are a huge bonus because while I can look up places in other books or online... it’s really convenient not to have to.

[gustavo Inacio ferreira assis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I Can’t get enough.

Donald Kagan is definitely one of the best historians I’ve had the pleasure to read from. The meticulous way he wrote his books is Outstanding. I’ve brought not only the whole set of the peleponesian war, but many of his other book already. When you find a great author it’s worth reading everything he has ever written because the quality is surreal. Thank you for the incredible book.

[Victor Whitman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is Kagan's second volume on the Peloponnesian War. It focuses on the first phase of the war that ended in a statement. Again, it is a must read for people interested in Greek history. I would start with his first book on the outbreak, though, which is also excellent.

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

exhaustively detailed of the first ten years of the Peloponnesian War

[Ian McClintic · Rating 5 out of 5]

Volume 2 of 4 in the Donald Kagan series on the Peloponnesian War. This is a higher level account of the 30 year conflict. In this particular volume, I enjoyed the spotlight on the late Archidamian War leaders, Cleon and Brasidas. I have a new appreciation for Cleon. Kagan makes a compelling argument that his aggressive policy, aided by the daring general Demosthenes, was ultimately the correct action following the death of Pericles. This lead to the Nicias peace to conclude the volume. Kagan weights the opinions of his fellow Classists interpretation of events. Also, connecting events of the war with contemporary situations. There is nothing new under the sun.

[Holly Colbert · Rating 1 out of 5]

Rory Gilmore Book Challenge #9

[Ivan Soto · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful scholarship!