The Plague of War

Reviews / Votes

A narrative that is readable and worth reading for Greek history novice and junkie alike. The affordable paperback, furthermore, is suitable for undergraduate classroom use. Roberts is an engaging and entertaining story-teller with a sense of humor. * Classical Journal-Online * She illuminates every complex situation, having the essential but often obscure details at her fingertips; she uses her sources as old friends, responsibly but critically.... You are in good hands with Roberts; this is a sad tale, excellently told. * The Heythrop Journal * A welcome contrast from traditional studies of the war ... Impressive * Journal of Hellenic Studies * Roberts presents the reader with a clear, straightforward and chronological narrative of events from the background to and origins of the war through to its grim conclusion and inconclusive war-torn aftermath... this is a good read and a good overview of the events that shaped the Classical Age. The events it describes will long continue to invite debate. * Mathew Trundle, H Soz Kult * [Roberts brings] clarity to events underpinning an important and complex period of history. * Peter Jones, Literary Review * A lively account. * Barbara Graziosi, Times Higher Education * Do we really need another history of the Peloponnesian War? That was the question in my mind when I opened this book. When I finished it, I thought, yes, we seem to. Military historians often neglect developments in the arts, for instance, but Roberts weaves in Greek culture, showing how works by dramatists and philosophers reflected events in the war... She portrays the death of Socrates 12 years later as one more evil consequence of the war, with the great philosopher scapegoated 'for the ills of a city that had suffered war, economic collapse, demographic devastation and civil strife.' * Thomas E. Ricks, New York Times Book Review * A lucid one-volume summary of the long Hellenic catastrophe that began in 431 BC ... The virtues of Roberts' account are brevity and freshness * Dominic Green, Minerva * As a book for general readers, The Plague of War contains many useful enhancements to Roberts's standard narrative of the Peloponnesian War ... Roberts includes plenty of engaging vignettes about some of this period's most interesting characters and scandals... * Matthew Sears, Brill *