From the editor of the widely praised The Landmark Thucydides, a new Landmark Edition of The Histories by Herodotus.

Cicero called Herodotus "the father of history," and his only work, The Histories, is considered the first true piece of historical writing in Western literature. With lucid prose, Herodotus's account of the rise of the Persian Empire and its dramatic war with the Greek city sates set a standard for narrative nonfiction that continues to this day. Illustrated, annotated, and filled with maps—with an introduction by Rosalind Thomas, twenty-one appendices written by scholars at the top of their fields, and a new translation by Andrea L. Purvis—The Landmark Herodotus is a stunning edition of the greatest classical work of history ever written.

This is a superb edition of the classic by the "Father of History", even (or maybe especially) for the non-specialist. I read the Kindle edition simultaneously with the print version (950+ pages), the first for ease of use, the second for the hundreds of maps, which don't show up well in e-ink.

This edition, one of the Landmark translations of classical literature edited by Robert B. Strassler, begins with 50 pages of introductions and prefaces, a dated outline of the text, and then the 9 books, each heavily footnoted, sourced and laced with maps. The maps alone make the edition worth its hefty price tag, but following the text there are 23 appendices (each footnoted and sourced), a glossary and bibliography, a 100-page annotated index, and a directory to place names mentioned in the text.

Appendices include:
The Athenian Government in Herodotus
The Spartan State in War and Peace
The Account of Egypt: Herodotus Right and Wrong
Herodotean Geography
Herodotus and the Black Sea Region
Rivers and Peoples of Scythia
The Continuity of Steppe Culture
The Ionian Revolt
Classical Greek Religious Festivals
Ancient Greek Units of Currency, Weight, and Distance
Dialect and Ethnic Groups in Herodotus
Aristocratic Families in Herodotus
Herodotus on Persia and the Persian Empire
Hoplite Warfare in Herodotus
The Persian Army in Herodotus
Oracles, Religion, and Politics in Herodotus
Herodotus and the Poets
The Size of Xerxes' Expeditionary Force
Trireme Warfare in Herodotus
Tyranny in Herodotus
On Women and Marriage in Herodotus

This will be "the" translation to read for many years to come.

After reading 40 pages of this magnificent book, I was absolutely engrossed. I've always been fascinated by ancient Greece, the Persian empire, and the Greco-Persian wars, and decided to give this version a try. The translation is very readable, and the numerous maps, footnotes, and illustrations are extremely helpful for the modern everyday reader who may not be familiar with that ancient world. It's refreshing to be able to look at maps and pictures of ancient artifacts while reading about them. This version of Herodotus is a great one to get lost in, whether you are reading The Histories for the first time or if you are a seasoned expert. And as usual, excellent price and service from Amazon.

Herodotus is well known as the "father of history". As the first writer to use the Greek "historie," meaning an inquiry, when speaking of examining the events of the past, his seminal work The Histories has never seen such a comprehensive, modern treatment as it has received in The Landmark Herodotus.

Long a favorite of budding historians wanting to dig into primary source documents of the Greek and Persian war rather than the regurgitations found in history textbooks, Herodotus has at the same time remained somewhat intimidating and inaccessible to those without a scholarly background in the classics. If there's a copy of The Histories sitting on your shelf that you've always meant to read, or wanted to assign to your students, but have given up due to confusion, pick up a copy ofThe Landmark Herodotus.

Andrea L. Purvis' new translation is accessible, easy to understand, and well footnoted and documented when variations and translation choices must be explained. A total of 127 historical maps set Herodotus' inquiries into history, culture, geography, and the natural world, firmly into space.

The extensive footnotes, side note summaries, page headings, and wealth of appendixes help modern readers - lay readers in particular - delve into Herodotus' work with the many helps that keep us immersed in cultural context and background details as needed. This is truly the Herodotus for beginners.

The index is a work of beauty - nearly 100 pages in total. If you ever find yourself thinking, "I know I've read this excerpt from Herodotus somewhere," and would like to read it in context, you'll be ecstatic!

Reprinted in 2009 as a paperback, this 1024-page volume, thickly padded with detail, is better suited as a hardcover. The 2007 original volume will hold up better to the massive weight of this tome.

Whether for your own background reading, or for the use of your high school student, this masterful volume is hands-down the best modern version of The Histories to see how available today. It's truly difficult to see how Strassler could have improved this edition. There is more than enough fascinating detail included to lose yourself in the history of ancient Greece, Persia, and the surrounding nations.

The new landmark series definitely makes things a lot easier for those who want to enter into classics but feel that the regular books can be quite loaded with notes but vague on the various geographic issues. This is filled with maps on every page and notes here and there to help guide the reader along without needing to flip back and forth between the front and back to see them. Not to mention that it is filled with a wide ranging number of articles that deal with almost every aspect of herodotus' histories.

20 pages in, and already I'm astounded. I've read some Herodotus in the past, but it was nothing like the Landmark edition.

I've spent time in the ruins of Achaia and Western Turkey, and it's amazing to read Herodotus and just let the visual memories run wild. Early on he deals with Gyges, king of Sardis [he is probably the referent of "Gog of the land of Magog" in Ezekiel]...and I remembered stumbling across a Greek inscription that concerned him while in ancient Sardis. What a rich world...!

The only petty complaint I might offer is that there are 'way too many footnotes...I've learned just to shut them out, since they usually are there to direct the reader to one map or another. Hint: If Herodotus is talking about a locale, trust the editors, the map is probably on the very next page.