"The father of history," as Cicero called him, and a writer possessed of remarkable narrative gifts, enormous scope, and considerable charm, Herodotus has always been beloved by readers well-versed in the classics. Compelled by his desire to "prevent the traces of human events from being erased by time," Herotodus recounts the incidents preceding and following the Persian Wars. He gives us much more than military history, though, providing the fullest portrait of the classical world of the 5th and 6th centuries. This readable new translation is supplemented with expansive notes to help the reader appreciate the book in depth.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
About the Author
Carolyn Dewald is Associate Professor of Classics at the University of Southern California. Robin Waterfield is a distinguished translator whose version of Plato's Republic has been described as `the best available'.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
75 of 78 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This Oxford Classics edition has much to recommend it. First, it is translated into smooth modern English, which, while not conveying every subtlety of Greek, will nontheless help the present-day reader through this long work. Second, the price is under $10. Third, there is an excellent map collection at the back showing the ancient world as we see it and as Herodotus saw it. The notes, bibliography, appendices, indexes, timeline and glossary all make this a great resource for the student or casual reader. There is enough mention of content in all the other reviews. I just wanted to point out the advantages of this edition.
25 of 26 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This new translation by Robin Waterfield is smooth, colloquial, and easily readable, comparable to Robert Fagles' outstanding new translations of Homer's Illiad and Odessey. Carolyn Dewald has provided 150 pages of detailed and highly useful notes, all unobtrusively placed at the end of the book. Ten maps show virtually every geographical detail needed to follow Herodotus's tour around the known world, and a detailed index makes finding people--though not keywords--easy. All in all, an enjoyable read.
18 of 20 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Magnificent text, great translation, helpful notes, misguided organization
March 2, 2007
By Daniel Pinto
Format:Paperback
Herodotus's Histories are a treasure trove of wisdom, anecdotes and sheer joy. In the words of Robert D. Kaplan, "Thucydides may have been the more trustworthy historian, but Herodotus would have been more fun to share a wineskin with--and is a better guide to the god-filled geopolitics of the current era." (Kaplan's remarkable article on Herodotus, titled "A Historian for our Time", is available at [...]
I fully agree with other reviewers about the beauty of this translation, which results in a fluent and pleasant text. I am also overwhelmed at the abundance of notes and commentaries about perhaps most paragraphs in the book.
The problem is, while the translation increases our reading pleasure, the organization of this edition does not help the reader: the use of endnotes rather than footnotes means that readers have to keep moving to and fro between the text and the end of the book. Worse still, there is no footnote numbering, so readers must turn at virtually every paragraph to the end of the book, so as not to miss possible clarification. Eventually, I decided to check before reading each of the nine chapters ("Books") and mark the endnoted paragraphs myself.
Perhaps Oxford's intention was, as another reviewer put it, to ensure that notes were "unobtrusive" and the reader would have the clean text before his eyes. I beg to differ: few modern readers could do without the additional explanations provided in the notes. And, if they felt they could, or so wished, they would have a wealth of translations to choose from, much poorer in notes than this one.
I think no other edition of the "Histories" has so many maps. These are necessary and helpful. But they could have been clearer. In some of them, it is hard to tell land from sea, for example.
I do look forward to a "Landmark Herodotus" similar to the magnificent "Landmark Thucydides", with notes AND maps exactly where they are needed, so the reader never has to leave the page he is reading. This may sound shallow, but it greatly facilitates concentration. And this, after all, is supposed to be one of the main benefits of a fluent and pleasant text in the first place.
I fully agree with other reviewers about the beauty of this translation, which results in a fluent and pleasant text. I am also overwhelmed at the abundance of notes and commentaries about perhaps most paragraphs in the book.
The problem is, while the translation increases our reading pleasure, the organization of this edition does not help the reader: the use of endnotes rather than footnotes means that readers have to keep moving to and fro between the text and the end of the book. Worse still, there is no footnote numbering, so readers must turn at virtually every paragraph to the end of the book, so as not to miss possible clarification. Eventually, I decided to check before reading each of the nine chapters ("Books") and mark the endnoted paragraphs myself.
Perhaps Oxford's intention was, as another reviewer put it, to ensure that notes were "unobtrusive" and the reader would have the clean text before his eyes. I beg to differ: few modern readers could do without the additional explanations provided in the notes. And, if they felt they could, or so wished, they would have a wealth of translations to choose from, much poorer in notes than this one.
I think no other edition of the "Histories" has so many maps. These are necessary and helpful. But they could have been clearer. In some of them, it is hard to tell land from sea, for example.
I do look forward to a "Landmark Herodotus" similar to the magnificent "Landmark Thucydides", with notes AND maps exactly where they are needed, so the reader never has to leave the page he is reading. This may sound shallow, but it greatly facilitates concentration. And this, after all, is supposed to be one of the main benefits of a fluent and pleasant text in the first place.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
A True Classic
'The Histories' is one of my favorite books of all time. The prose is full of wit, and it is a pleasure to read. Read more
Published on May 8, 2011 by The Messenger
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Father of History has something for everyone
Herodotus's The Histories is an immense trove of knowledge. He is often given the handle Father of History as his pioneering work help set the stage for the field of historians. Read more
Published on December 29, 2010 by JH
2.0 out of 5 stars
10,000 Rabbit Trails
This is a very fine translation of one of the most important books from the ancient world. Be forewarned, this is not easy reading for the ordinary or casual reader of history. Read more
Published on September 11, 2008 by Daniel J. Dupre
5.0 out of 5 stars
Huzzah for Herodotus! The Ultimate Enquiry Mind
What amazed me about this book was Herodotus'curiosity and lack of ethnocentrisism. Herdotus wasn't simply interested in chronicling major events, but delving deeper to understand... Read more
Published on May 9, 2008 by Bijan Khoshnood
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fun book
This is great, fun book to read. This is a book you can read for enjoyment. I was reluctant to read it because I assumed it would be difficult because it was written around 425 BC. Read more
Published on May 27, 2007 by Jimmy Clay
5.0 out of 5 stars
Joy to read!
Growing up in Turkey, every student had to study world history including the events covered in this book. Read more
Published on February 11, 2007 by Ozdal Barkan
5.0 out of 5 stars
Highly readable!
If you like greek history, but you are not a scholar, then this is the book for you. Like all the other reviewers say, this book is like a time machine, it takes you back to... Read more
Published on July 8, 2006 by Edgar Cifre Sarda
5.0 out of 5 stars
Awesome book!!!
A highly entertaining collection of stories involving the ancient world. You will read about societies from Libya to India and everything in between. Read more
Published on July 30, 2004 by richard lionhearted
5.0 out of 5 stars
Herodotus
I don't think any other work I've read has allowed me to live into how it was to live in a time so remote from our own. This really strikes me as an astounding achievement. Read more
Published on May 19, 2004 by Margaret Magnus
5.0 out of 5 stars
Gee,Herodotus is such an interesting man!
I am reading this book and I LOVE it. One important reason is that the author, Herodotus, is really attractive to me. Read more
Published on February 1, 2004 by X. Liu
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 100
books:
See all 100 books this book cites
- The Peloponnesian War by Thucydides on 12 pages
- The Persian Wars (Modern Library College Editions) by Herodotus on 6 pages
- A Vindication of the Rights of Woman by Mary Wollstonecraft in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- The Rights of Woman (Phoenix Sixties) by Mary Wollstonecraft in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- The Cambridge Ancient History, Vol. 5: The Fifth Century BC (Volume 5) by David M. Lewis in Front Matter, and Back Matter
See all 100 books this book cites
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