About the book: 2023 / In the 5th century BC. e. For three long decades, Ancient Greece was in the grip of a conflict no less dramatic and destructive than the world wars of the twentieth century - the Peloponnesian War. The famous American classical historian, one of the world's most respected experts on Ancient Greece, Donald Kagan, talks about this bloody confrontation between the Athenians and the Spartans. “The Peloponnesian War” is a new study of a turning point in the history of Western civilization, an authoritative historical work, written, however, for wide range of readers, lively and exciting. Before us is a detailed description of a long-vanished world, the rise and fall of a great empire and a chronicle of dark times, the lessons of which still resonate with us today. What we call the Peloponnesian War would be correct and instructive to call “the great war between Athens and Sparta " as one researcher put it. Like the war of 1914–1918, which was called the “Great War” by older generations who had not known other wars, this war was a tragedy, a great historical milestone, the end of an era of progress, prosperity, hope and faith in the future, and the beginning of a darker era. Features The book contains more than 30 battle maps. For whomFor everyone interested in history and strategy.