Scholars may agree: on the subject of secretive Sparta, a state richly productive of myth and wishful thinking, Thucydides stands supreme as a source. A contemporary witness of Sparta at her military zenith, famous for his sober reporting and penetrative analysis, Thucydides is often mined by scholars ingeniously but trustingly, as a safe guide to Spartan reality. This book, by a team of internationally-reputed Hellenists, teases out Thucydides' often implicit characterisation of Sparta's difference, as compared with the mentalities of other Greeks. It also argues that even Thucydides could be seduced at times by false Spartan claims about the exceptional city on the Eurotas.