{"product_id":"the-outbreak-of-the-peloponnesian-war-9780801405013","title":"The Outbreak of the Peloponnesian War","description":"\u003cp\u003e\"Kagans book is a contribution of considerable distinction  scrupulously fair  carefully argued  and lucidly written. And  what is more  it is persuasive.... Kagan sets out the story in detail and with acumen. The case has been adumbrated beforebut never presented with such thoroughness.\"Journal of Interdisciplinary History The first volume of Donald Kagans acclaimed four-volume history of the Peloponnesian War offers a new evaluation of the origins and causes of the conflict  based on evidence produced by modern scholarship and on a careful reconsideration of the ancient texts. He focuses his study on the question: Was the war inevitable  or could it have been avoided? Kagan takes issue with Thucydides view that the war was inevitable  that the rise of the Athenian Empire in a world with an existing rival power made a clash between the two a certainty. Asserting instead that the origin of the war \"cannot  without serious distortion  be treated in isolation from the internal history of the states involved \" Kagan traces the connections between domestic politics  constitutional organization  and foreign affairs. He further examines the evidence to see what decisions were made that led to war  at each point asking whether a different decision would have been possible.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45666299969589,"sku":"ByrdShop_0801405017","price":82.9,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780801405013.jpg?v=1782427568","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-outbreak-of-the-peloponnesian-war-9780801405013","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}