A study of the intellectual and moral qualities of twelve of the most important figures in Thucydides' History, six Athenian and six Spartan. Professor Westlake has a double purpose: he aims to extend our understanding of the motives and actions of the individuals in question; and he uses the passages on character study in the History to illustrate Thucydides' own intellectual development and his deepening understanding of the art of the historian. In its interpretation of Thucydides this is a book of genuine originality. Professor Westlake propounds his thesis lucidly and with conviction.