Donald Kagan, Thucydides: The Reinvention of History, New York: Viking, 2009. Pp. 257.
- ISBN 9780670021291.
- $26.95.
Recension par Tim Rood (St Hugh's College, Oxford) dans Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2009.12.28.
Présentation de l'éditeur:
The grandeur and power of Thucydides' The Peloponnesian War haveenthralled readers, historians, and statesmen alike for two and a halfmillennia, and the work and its author have had an enduring influenceon those who think about international relations and war, especially inour own time. In Thucydides, Donald Kagan, one of our foremostclassics scholars, illuminates the great historian and his work both byexamining him in the context of his time and by considering him as arevisionist historian.
Thucydides took a spectacular leap intomodernity by refusing to seek explanations for human behavior in thewill of the gods, or even in the will of individuals, looking insteadat the behavior of men in society. In this context, Kagan explains how The Peloponnesian Wardiffers significantly from other accounts offered by Thucydides'contemporaries and stands as the first modern work of politicalhistory, dramatically influencing the manner in which history has beenconceptualized ever since.
Yale professor of classics Kagan thoroughly examines Thucydides' lifeand work to successfully demonstrate that the Athenian historian wasthe first to utilize a truly professional (i.e., realistic andmethodical) approach in recounting contemporary events. An unsuccessfulgeneral and a devoted adherent of Pericles, Thucydides believed thatthe Peloponnesian War was the most significant event in Greek history.He was determined that his study of the war, unlike more romantic orfolkish histories, would stand the test of time because of hisattention to detail; his comprehensive documentation includes symptomsof the mysterious plague afflicting Athens for the benefit of futuregenerations, showing the historian's far-sighted versatility. To hiscredit, Thucydides' History of the Peloponnesian War remains a necessity in the study of international relations, military strategy and political science. Like his subject, Kagan (The Peloponnesian War)tends to minimize the impact of Herodotus on the evolution of historyas a discipline, yet any such weakness is offset by the inescapablefact that if Herodotus remains the acknowledged Father of History, thenThucydides could be described as the Father of Objective History, whoopened the realm of history to serious study.