- A penetrating new study of the Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta by an established scholar
- Offers an original interpretation of how and why the war began
- Weaves in the contemporary evidence of Aristophanes in order to give readers a new sense of how the war affected the individual
- Discusses the practicalities and realities of the war
- Examines the blossoming of culture and intellectual achievement in Athens despite the war
- Challenges the approach of Thucydides in his account of the war