History of the Peloponnesian War
by Thucydides · first published 1526
32% recommend68% neutral
Why HN recommends it
A primary-source history of the Athens-Sparta conflict, widely regarded as the founding text of political history. It offers analysis of power, war and human motives, and it follows Herodotus as a next step.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Written four hundred years before the birth of Christ, this detailed contemporary account of the long life-and-death struggle between Athens and Sparta stands an excellent chance of fulfilling its author's ambitious claim. Thucydides himself (c.460-400 BC) was an Athenian and achieved the rank of general in the earlier stages of the war. He applied thereafter a passion for accuracy and a contempt for myth and romance in compiling this factual record of a disastrous conflict.
Affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
Related books
2009–20231776
David McCullough
Recommended by 3 · mentioned by 43 recommend · 4 mention3 recommend · 43 recommend
2019–2023Come as you are
Emily Nagoski, Blanca González Villegas
Recommended by 4 · mentioned by 44 recommend · 4 mention4 recommend · 44 recommend
Landmark Herodotus
Robert Strassler
Recommended by 4 · mentioned by 54 recommend · 5 mention4 recommend · 54 recommend
2013–2025Plutarch's Lives
Plutarch
Recommended by 7 · mentioned by 137 recommend · 13 mention7 recommend · 137 recommend
2009–2026The Histories
Herodotus Herodotus
Recommended by 12 · mentioned by 3912 recommend · 39 mention12 recommend · 3912 recommend
The Gathering Storm
Winston S. Churchill
Recommended by 4 · mentioned by 84 recommend · 8 mention4 recommend · 84 recommend
2009–2024The Gallic Wars
Julius Caesar
Recommended by 11 · mentioned by 4211 recommend · 42 mention11 recommend · 4211 recommend
2013–2025The first and last freedom
Jiddu Krishnamurti
Recommended by 3 · mentioned by 43 recommend · 4 mention3 recommend · 43 recommend
…of War (Shambhala classics) by Sun Tzu 11. The Prince (Bantam Classics) by Niccolo Machiavelli 12. Evolutionary Game Theory by Jörgen W. Weibull 13. On Guerrilla Warfare by Mao Tse-tung 14. The History of the Peloponnesian War: Revised Edition (Penguin Classics) by Thucydides 15. The Histories (Penguin Classics) by Herodotus 16. The Persian Expedition (Penguin Classics) by Xenophon 17. Plutarch: Lives of Noble Grecians…
on “Ask HN: good books about military strategy?” ↗…person's opinion, second-hand, why not read the original historical sources? For example: The Polity of the Athenians and the Lacedaemonians, by Xenophon https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1178 The History of the Peloponnesian War, by Thucydides https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/7142 History, by Herodotus https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2707 (Volume 1) https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2456 (Volume 2) On Sparta, by Plutarch…
on “Sparta was more than an army of super warriors” ↗Chronologically, The History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides makes most sense. It's a shift from the Greek-Persian conflict to Athens vs. Sparta. You can read Plutarch's Lives in parallel (no pun intended), it's pure entertainment.
on “Loeb at First Sight: The Classics Come in Red and Green (2013)” ↗…Romans, which is nominally about comparing the characters of selected pairs of Greeks and Romans, but gives you windows into the historical times they lived in as well, and though not Roman, Thucydides's History of the Peloponnesian War. For a lighter treatment, I listened to and would recommend Dan Carlin's Hardcore History podcast series after seeing it mentioned on Hacker News several times. There's two great series about Rome, Punic…
on “Julius Caesar battlefield unearthed in southern Netherlands” ↗…of them are very much worth reading, I personally would recommend: Homer and a few Greek plays Sample a bit of the great story teller Herodotus, then read the birth of historiography in Thucydides' History of the Peloponnesian War, which by itself is also very interesting and important (wonder why the Founder of the US didn't like direct democracy? There are very important object lessons in it). Surely Plato and Aristotle deserve…
on “Ask HN: Books with a high signal to noise ratio?” ↗Older Stuff: The Bible/Quran, The Republic (Plato), The Social Contract (Rousseau), Tao Te Ching (Laozi), Brothers Karamazov (Dostoevsky), History of the Peloponnesian War (Thucydides) Newer Stuff: Nine Stories (Salinger), The Razor's Edge (Maugham), Nausea (Sartre), Siddartha (Hesse), Road to Serfdom (Hayek), The Book (Watts), Design of Everyday Things (Norman), Atlas…
on “Ask HN: What books do you wish your manager would read?” ↗…Peloponnesian War" in the list. His "Introduction to Ancient Greece" class is really good (and available online for free). I'd also strongly suggest anyone interested in that topic to read Thucydides' original "History of the Peloponnesian War," which is probably the most influential history book ever written.
on “Patrick Collison's Bookshelf” ↗…Cry https://smile.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00B1FG8RW/ref=tmm_kin_swat... My side of the mountain https://smile.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0525463461/ref=tmm_hrd_swat... The Histories https://smile.amazon.com/Histories-Penguin-Classics-Deluxe-e... The History of the Peloponnesian War https://smile.amazon.com/History-Peloponnesian-War-Thucydide... The Social Contract https://smile.amazon.com/Social-Contract-Other-Political-Wri...
on “Ask HN: Life Changing Books?” ↗…anyone who may be interested, my friends and I have a book club called Public Works, where we only read stuff that’s in the public domain, and we just began an arc on antiquity. Right now we’re reading “History of the Peloponnesian War” by Thucydides, which is amazing, and the plan is to go in chronological order until the fall of the western Roman Empire. So after this, got example, we’ll probably do Xenophon, Plato, some of the plays,…
on “Aristotle’s Rules for Living Well” ↗I read his History of the Peloponnesian War in the tenth grade. Thank you Mr Chrome! I remember really enjoying it but it may have been my teacher.
on “A Possession for All Time: How Should We Read Thucydides?” ↗…grandfather was a 'count'). I thought his personality was just a quirk of his since he was unlike anyone I knew growing up. He fit the Tolstoyan characterization of a noble like a glove, warts and all. 3. History of the Peloponnesian War - So many of the conflicts today are exemplified in the ancient Greek world and the relationships between the city states as described in the book. Hard to believe (I don't believe) that Thucydides could…
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2022 and recommend for 2023” ↗…BS. You were expected to know Latin and Greek because you were expected to read Latin and Greek. If you were pursuing a BS, then perhaps you would read Euclid's "Elements" instead of Thucydides' "The History of the Peloponnesian War". (&c., It's not like those were the only texts one would encounter.) But languages were a prerequisite because they lacked the chronological hubris of our age. Hence the tight coupling with Geography:…
on “Harvard 1869 entrance exam” ↗>War is almost never to "make a profit" Where did you get that idea? >war is a matter not so much of arms as of money -Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War
on “War Is a Racket (1935)” ↗…on it. The most prominent example is the American Civil War, where great effort was made to propagandize it as The Lost Cause. But other examples include German histories of World War I and Thucydides history of the Peloponnesian War. The Onion made a joke out of it, but in a sense it really is an example that the history of rock was written by the losers. https://www.theonion.com/history-of-rock-written-by-the-lose...
on “Disinformation: It’s History” ↗…[2][3][4][5][6][7] as a counterpoint to AI driving lazy thoughtlessness, which rather seems to be innate to humans as a group. ---------------- [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flynn_effect [2] Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War, 1.20 — 5th c. BCE Greece. “So little pains do the vulgar take in the investigation of truth, accepting readily the first story that comes to hand.” [3] Aristotle, Rhetoric, 1.2 — 4th c. BCE Greece.…
on “Leave Me Behind” ↗