Pericles Of Athens And The Birth Of Democracy [Paperback]

Donald Kagan (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0684863952 | ISBN-13: 978-0684863955 | Publication Date: October 1, 1998

"Kagan, faithful to his lifelong fascination with Pericles . . . gives us an accessible and invaluable account of his life and deeds".--Allan Bloom, author of "The Closing of the American Mind".

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Democracy past and present is explored in this biography of Pericles, who governed Athens during the fifth century B.C., associated with such philosophers and artisans as Sophocles, Aeschylus and Phidias, and commissioned the Parthenon. Illustrated.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Kagan is well known for his four-volume history of the Peloponnesian War ( The Outbreak of the Peloponnesian War , LJ 1/5/70; The Archidamian War , 1974; The Peace of Nicias and the Sicilian Expedition , 1981; The Fall of the Athenian Empire , 1987, all Cornell Univ. Pr.). His latest work is the first genuine biography of Pericles in English since A.R. Burn's Pericles and Athens (1949) and the most spirited defense of the Athenian democracy since W.G. Forrest's The Emergence of Greek Democracy (1966). The book is a lively and thoughtful chronicle of the years leading up to and into the great war between the Athenians and Spartans. Pericles is cast as the tragic hero whose flaw is the very rationality with which he so skillfully guided the Athenians and forged an empire. Contrary to the charges of both ancient and modern critics, Kagan argues that the democracy was a rational, deliberate, and moderate regime, and Pericles is portrayed as the consummate visionary political leader whose great mistake was to expect everyone to think and behave as rationally as he did. This learned and passionate book is sure to cause controversy and is recommended to both academic and public libraries.
- V. Bradley Lewis, Univ. of Notre Dame, Ind.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Free Press (October 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684863952
• ISBN-13: 978-0684863955
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #326,748 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Work on Athens' Golden Age, July 26, 2000

By 

Jim Williams (Geneseo, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pericles Of Athens And The Birth Of Democracy (Paperback)

Donald Kagan offers here a well-written popular account of the birth of democracy in ancient Greece. This book represents the capstone to a lifetime of research, reflection, writing (just check Amazon's list of his books; Kagan is perhaps the top writer in English on the Peloponnesian War), and teaching on classical Greece and illustrates both Kagan's eloquence and his belief that we can learn from the successes and failures of democracy in Ancient Athens. His Pericles is a hero but a tragic hero; his attempt to educate the entire population of Athens to achieve excellence reached an impressive level of success, but his relentlessly rational moderation refused to take into account emotional reactions of both individuals and states abroad and at home and helped bring on an unnecessary and disastrous war. His portrait of Periclean Athens offers many valuable analogies with contemporary democracy - and many warnings for us as well. Along with W.G. Forrest's The Emergence of Greek Democracy, sadly out of print, this is the best account of Greek History for the general reader, for its substance is intriguing, and it is a "great read."

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Getting to know Pericles, May 11, 2005

By 

D. Roberts "Hadrian12" (Battle Creek, Michigan United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Pericles Of Athens And The Birth Of Democracy (Paperback)

Donald Kagan of Yale university is perhaps the foremost authority on Periclean Athens in the world today. As such, it is only natural that he should write a treatise on the life of the great man known as Pericles.

All of the major facets of Pericles' life are brought together in this edition, from his rise to prominence to his scandalous affair with Aspasia to his strategy of fighting the Peloponnesian war against Sparta and her allies. The latter topic, of course, will gather the most interest to modern readers.

While I have read Thucydides, I felt that Kagan did a wonderful job of elaborating on a lot of details of the Peloponnesian war that were a bit unclear in primary sources. The problem with historical primary sources is that they many times take as a given the reader knows all the background information behind specific events. Kagan makes no assumptions and walks the reader through the various political and social aspects that underlie sundry events of 5th century Greece.

One of the more surprising elements of this book is that Kagan is not reticent in his criticisms of many Periclean policies and war strategies. While moderation is typically seen as a positive thing (just ask Aristotle!), Kagan points out how Pericles could over-rely on human reason and be moderate to a fault. In short, this book is NOT an encomium on the Greek leader. Rather, it is an open an honest examination of his life & times. Kagan disinters both the best and the worst in Pericles' character and foresight.

This book is highly recommended to all persons who are interested in Greek history. For those who wish to become more acquainted with Athens in the turmoil of war, this book is a can't miss.

24 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Necessary Adjunct to the Peloponnesian War Series, November 26, 2001

By 

Timothy A. Curry (Moscow, ID USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Pericles Of Athens And The Birth Of Democracy (Paperback)

In reading Kagan's epochal Peloponnesian War series (if Amazon had a six-star rating that series would deserve it) one is struck by the relative paucity of material present on one of the central characters of that period, Perikles of Athens. While Kagan gives his usual detailed treatment of events, what led up to many of Perikles' attitudes and intellectual precepts is left untreated.

A reader lucky enough to possess this volume will find the time spent in reading it in parallel with the four-volume magnum opus to be well spent. It supplies a view of the great man and his city with a color and richness that truly makes the reader's cup overflow, and might, if treated in this detail in the larger series, have slowed the latter's breakneck pace to a crawl. It is, of course, wonderful as a standalone reference.

Readers unfamiliar with Professor Kagan are missing a real treat. His prose is lean and concise, and its vividness lights the sometimes bland subject material of ancient Greek history with clarity and a contemporary relevance that is always illuminating and occasionally breathtaking. This is not "pop" history, but it is so well-written that it achieves the latter's accessibility without its superfluity. If more ancient history were written this way it would a much more popular subject of study.