The story of a military disaster
I really liked this book, but then I generally really like books that deal with ancient history and are a retelling of events that were beyond our lifetimes, such as this one. This book, though incomplete (namely because the author died before he could finish it) tells of a war between the rival Greek city states of Athens and Sparta. I could (and would like to) write a thesis on this book, but I will stick to my main theme, and that is the invasion of Sicily. As I read it, I thought as to whether there was a similar event in our time that reflects what happened then. Namely, in the middle of a war, the Athenians send a bulk of their forces halfway across the Mediterranean to capture an island that really had little to do with the war they were fighting and lost. Though they lasted another ten years, it was this event that brought about the downfall of their empire. Remember, Athens was a democracy, so it was not as if a single ruler made up his mind to do this, but rather one party, though the use of elegant speeches and promises of glory managed to bring the people of Athens around to their way of thinking and to vote in favour of this war.
It does remind me very much of a similar war in this century.
