Customer Reviews

The Histories

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Right on, David Wilson, I couldn't agree more! Although the reader who expects straight history would be better off with Thucydides, those interested in the culture, folklore, and ambience of classical Greece would do well to read this immensely engaging and accessible work. Far more than simply good story-telling, "The Histories" abounds with recurring themes and ideas that qualify its author as a great literary mind, not a mere historical curiosity.

In The Histories, Herodotus gives us the Greco-Persian wars and the epic events which led up to them. Beginning with Croeseus' loss of Lydia to Cyrus, Herodotus deftly relates the creation and expansion of the Persian empire and ends with the Persian military defeat at Mycale. Herodotus' writings will challenge the reader as during his narratives he often abruptly changes tack and sets of on a seemingly unrelated aside. However, he does eventually return to his original subject and the reader soon learns to enjoy this ad hoc style. In the end, these departures combine to provide a thoroughly comprehensive whole.

The Histories are best when Herodotus narrates events, however his descriptives of people and places can, at times, render the reader a touch glassy-eyed. This is most apparent when Herodotus, early on, devotes an entire book to Egypt and it's people. Libya, too, receives the same treatment later on and, for those in tune with his typically fast-paced narrative, it can present a bit of a bog. The battles of Marathon, Thermopylae, Salamis, and Plaetea are all wonderfully recounted and, overall, The Histories is a marvelous work and should be required reading for all.

I thought this was a fantastic book. It shows not only insights into the lives of people from 2500 years ago, but shows how little our motivations have changed. Every digression by Herodotus is not only pardonable, but entertaining.

This translation is very readable compared to those others which I only started and put down. I have no ability to assess the accuracy of the translation, however.

I would give 5 stars, except for some design and layout issues: the notes are at the rear of the book, very inconvenient, and the margins are a bit narrow for such a thick book. And I miss the traditional OUP blue cloth binding. The translation itself was modern, conversational, I'm glad I picked this edition to read.

I agree with some of the above reviews, disagree with others. The ones I read were interesting and brought back pleasant memories of time I spent reading this book. Something I can add is the following emphatic: Do Not Die Without Reading This Book.