In 431 BC, the long-simmering hostility between Athens and Sparta erupted and the two city-states clashed in a struggle for life and death. The war spread throughout the Greek world and the massacres that followed were unprecedented in ancient Greece. Many cities were destroyed, thousands of men were killed, and women and children were enslaved. Many believe that the war ended with the defeat of the Athenian navy in 405 BC and the subsequent surrender of Athens, but battles in Greece continued for many decades. Sparta's power was challenged in the Corinthian War (395-387 BC), when the Athenians allied with former allies of Sparta against them. The war finally ended in 371 BC, when the elite Theban infantry crushed Spartan military superiority.

Jennifer T. Roberts' rich narrative sheds light on this famous conflict, starting from the causes of the war and reaching the victory of Thebes at Leuctra. Despite the bitter sorrows and civil strife caused by the Peloponnesian War, it remains to this day a captivating tale of machinations and counter-machinations, assassinations and lies, thrilling naval battles and desperate marches, and perhaps, as the first historian of the war, Thucydides, had hoped, lessons for the future. Roberts also examines the impact of the war on the cultural life of Greece, including its great tragedies and comedies, as well as the most famous of all events, the trial and execution of Socrates. The book "Athens vs. Sparta," a gripping and accessible account of one of the most renowned conflicts of antiquity, is a must-read for all lovers of ancient history.