Thucydides' The History of the Peloponnesian War is a classic tale of how the world operates and how nations relate to one another. It is wrapped in an adventure, with battles, tests of will, heroic feats, as well as all the triumphs and disasters inherent in warfare between two great powers, the Athenian Delian League and the Spartan Peloponnesian League.

The book is a classic and Richard Crawley's translation does it justice. We hope that the reader enjoys this edition from St. Michael Publishing House. Its format is meant to be conducive to reading, so that one may enjoy Thucydides' narrative without distractions. In addition, appendices are included at the end related to international relations theory; one concerns Brasidas' military leadership during the war; another the modern Iran-Iraq war as analyzed from the Realist, Liberal, and Constructivist schools of international affairs; another the Gulf War in terms of military strategy; and a final one about Liberal and Realist views on weapons proliferation. It is hoped that these appendices provide some additional color to the book as it relates to the relationship between states and explanations of inter-state interactions.