The Persian War: From the Histories (Classic Non Fiction) [Abridged, Audiobook] [Audio Cassette]

Herodotus (Author), Roy Marsden (Narrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1996 | Series: Classic Non Fiction

In this first prose history in European civilization, Herodotus tells the heroic tale of the Greeks' resistance to the vast invading force assembled by Xerxes, King of Persia. The great battles of Marathon, Thermopylae and Salamis are read. The reading is supplemented by Malipiero.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Pithy, informative, entertaining. - Sue Arnold, The Guardian --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

From AudioFile

TV's Inspector Dalgleish gives a conscientious and energetic rendering of an uncredited eighteenth or nineteenth-century translation of this masterpiece by the father of modern historians. With never-flagging artistry, Marsden does everything an actor can do to hide how difficult this book is to read aloud. Who'd have thought that such a raspy voice could be so pleasant and expressive? Unfortunately, neither his hard work nor the brief, printed notes by abridger Perry Keenlyside will help listeners who've never heard of satraps, Lacedaemonians, Xerxes and triremes, who will be lost without maps and footnotes. On the other hand, busy students or, better, those who already know and love antiquity will undoubtedly enjoy and learn from this fine production. Y.R. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: Naxos Audiobooks; Abridged edition (June 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 9626345845
• ISBN-13: 978-9626345849
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,431,136 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Truncated version of a brilliant work of literature, May 24, 2003

By 

Theresa O'Brien (New York City) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Persian War: From the Histories (Classic Non Fiction) (Audio Cassette)

I actually downloaded this from Audible about six months ago. I rarely bother with abridged works, but at the time there was no complete recording of Herodotus available. Roy Marsden is an adequate narrator, but there doesn't seem to be any enthusiasm or fire in his delivery. It becomes monotonous after a while. On the plus side, Naxos have selected the best parts of Herodotus to record and you will find these portions superbly written. I recently downloaded a brand new version by Audio Connoisseur, also from Audible.com. This version is unabridged and it is simply spectacular. It's about 29 hours long and the narrator is splendid. I would gladly give it a five star rating. However, I can't find it here on Amazon.com. But it's apparently new and maybe it will show up later.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very enjoyable, December 1, 2006

By 

JP - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Persian War: From the Histories (Classic Non Fiction) (Audio CD)

I have listened to several of the Naxos audio books and they tend to have very boring narrators. However, I enjoyed this one very much. I would recommend it. If you can find the unabridged version of Herodotus mentioned below, go for it. Unabridged is always preferable to abridged (as long a you don't mind the higher price).

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good translation and abridgment but hard to listen to., March 16, 2008

By 

JA (Southest USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Persian War: From the Histories (Classic Non Fiction) (Audio CD)

This is a good audio book for those of who enjoy reading (or hearing) of ancient history. Herodotus is quoted in bits in every book about the pivotal battles between Greece and Persia, but usually only in snippets here and there. For a layman like myself who wants to hear more of what he himself recorded, this is a very good abridgement. The reader will have to procure a map of ancient Greece and Ionia for occasional reference for the places of the story to make sense, but I imagine most folks even interested in this audio book probably have such a map in another text. The reading leaves something to be desired for an American. The reader has a considerable accent so often one is trying to figure out what the English word is "in American" because it is pronounced so differently. It is a little disconcerting because most of us purchase audio books to enjoy during some other activity and one keeps getting distracted by the English words and then still has to take in the Greek words and keep track of the main characters. The audio production is OK although it does not have the clarity of most and therefore requires a higher volume than normal.