George Cawkwell

Understanding the history of Athens in the all important years of the second half of the fifth century B.C. is largely dependent on the work of the historian Thucydides. Previous scholarship has tended to view Thucydides' account as infallible.This book challenges that received wisdom, advancing original and controversial views of Thucydides' account of the Peloponnesian War; his misrepresentation of Alcibiades and Demosthenes; his relationship with Pericles; and his views on the Athenian Empire.Cawkwell's comprehensive analysis of Thucydides and his historical writings is persuasive, erudite and an immensely valuable addition to the scholarship and criticism of a rich and popular period of Greek history.

"Philip was a genius of extraordinary versatility. Inheriting a kingdom near to collapse, he made Macedonia the greatest military power in the Western world and left to his son Alexander the strongest state in Eastern Europe. This book gives full attention to the Macedonian state and the Macedonian people who made Philip's success possible, and to the high level of culture and of artistic skills revealed by recent archaeological discoveries."--Bloomsbury Publishing Philip was a genius of extraordinary versatility. Inheriting a kingdom near to collapse, he made Macedonia the greatest military power in the Western world and left to his son Alexander the strongest state in Eastern Europe. This book gives full attention to the Macedonian state and the Macedonian people who made Philip's success possible, and to the high level of culture and of artistic skills revealed by recent archaeological discoveries.