I am always partial to books that try to present a complete picture of the history they are written for. In achieving this, I am not averse to the idea of authors including information from non-scholastic sources, even fiction, as long as the authors clarify them as such. To her credit Dr Roberts did exactly that, including materials from plays of Aristophanes, works of Plato and most gratifying for me, quoting lavishly from Xenophon, who is always considered an inferior writer compared to his contemporaries (particularly Plato).
However, this book somehow didn't work for me. The pattern adopted by the author is quite similar for all chapters. She would start with the War itself, spending much time on the strategies, tactics and the outcome. She would then close out the chapters by trying to help the readers to understand the socio-politico situations, quoting from the works referred to above. Unfortunately, in doing so, the momentum is inevitably broken. The Peloponnesian War is a long one and it should come as no surprise that all decisions and communication would be slow. But the action was constant throughout the 27 years and in between the actual fighting, we had the intrigue of one power trying to maneuver the smaller players to their advantage. The introduction of the socio-politico situations from the different sources not only disrupts the flow, they ended up becoming a distraction to the main story. Take for example, in one of the last chapters, the author dedicated much of the chapter to talking about education in Greece. Not only does this topic not fit nicely within the chapter, it is hard to understand how it enhances the book. An earlier work by the author's PhD supervisor, Prof Donald Kagan, known simply as The Peloponnesian War offers a much tighter narrative.
What I like about this book though, is the fairness with which the author treats both Athens and Sparta. Unlike the book cited above by Prof Kagan who clearly is partial to Athens, Dr Roberts is a more balanced in her approach. Athens was not without blame in perpetuating atrocities and Sparta was not always invulnerable on land. Similarly, in victory Sparta made some of the worst policies in governing whereas Athens appears to be a more robust society that can bounce back even in defeat.
Overall, I think this book is not a bad read. It is well-researched and has gone further chronologically than what Thucydides wrote in his book, extending the story using Xenophon's Hellenica and various other sources, telling the story of Sparta's eventual ruin. If you are only interested in the Peloponnesian War though, then you may find this book somewhat draggy and Prof Kagan's book would be better suited.
(Find this book at Goodreads.)
Listen to the podcast where the author discussed the book.
Reference
Kagan, D. (2004). The Peloponnesian War. Penguin Books, NY.
