This is the first volume of a two-volume historical and literary commentary on the eight books of Thucydides, the great fifth-century B.C. historian of the Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta. Exploring both the historical and literary aspects of the work, this commentary provides translations of every passage or phrase of Greek commented on and allows readers with little knowledge of the language to appreciate the detail of Thucydides' work. Making accessible the detail of Thucydides' thought and subject matter, this is the first complete commentary written by a single author this century.