The Histories (Oxford World's Classics)

You get out of it for the reason you decided to pick it up. I'm a casual reader but picked it up when it was referenced in something else. To me it read like great historical fiction, although theres lots of confusion because there are so many names and places and frequent digressions and his maps, particularly the ones of Greece, are terrible. I spent a fair amount of time on Google but it was well worth it. The notes are helpful if you read them by chapter and I got more out of the introduction after reading the first 2 books because it made more sense Its also a scholarly work, as well which makes it a more difficult read because you cant read it without lots of reference material or are already literate in the subject. One thing I will say is that it should be required reading for would-be journalists. He makes it clear when he uses multiple sources or doesn't and whether or not he trusts the sources.

A grand overarching story embellished with a thousand of pithy anecdotes of varying relevance. It is possible to make big fuss about whether the anecdotes are literally true (in the Schweik case, there were many people wasting the time of their lives really trying to map the anecdotes to real individuals and events) but in the end, it does not matter that much. And as a matter of fact, whatever in this book is possible to confirm one way or another was actually confirmed. You owe it to yourself to read it, it must rate among the 20 most important and at the same time most entertaining books ever written. The translation is lucid, and there are many helpful remarks.

This is a ~2500 year old book on history that was criticized right after it came out. It's often viewed as the less serious, less academic, inferior work when compared to Thucydides - the author who provided the template for future historians. For that reason, a modern reader may hesitate to look at it. They should not. It is a wonderful read - the stories are great, the sociological descriptions are wonderful, the deductive analysis (when placed into context) is remarkable. The book's engagement with real world events must be considered, and there are excellent footnotes to discuss it. Ultimately, this is the best and often only source for many of his subjects. As such it is well worth reading and engaging with. Afterwards you will probably spot many, many references to this book through the centuries. The Histories is critical to our modern day understanding of the classical world. I do think that reading it with a map of the ancient world would be helpful if you're not familiar with the landscape, but other than that, just go along with it.

This is not an easy read, but if you have the patience to make it through the introduction and initial chapters, you will find a fascinating tale. Herodotus is a gifted story teller. Even in his digressions- and there are many throughout the book- the descriptions of the lands, the people, the battles, customs, offer rich detail and insight to what it was like to be living 2500 years ago during the Greek and Persian wars. Oftentimes reading this book, it reminded me of Star Wars and Lord of the Rings, and made me wonder if George Lucas and J.R.R. Tolkien were inspired by Herodotus' The Histories." In so many ways we have changed, but in also so many ways, we still share much in common with our ancient ancestors.

Very readable translation.

Herodotus is quite the ancient historian; he's full of himself and funny too.

Any history lover with any kind of book collection is required to have a copy of this book. It's a great copy at a very affordable price.

This translation reads very well, makes for an exciting and enjoyable read; if you like a good story you'll find more than enough of them here. Also comparisons of the Greek vs. the Persian version of the story of the conflict between East and West. Ethnographic sections about Egypt, Persia, and all sorts of places East of Greece: Lydians, Medes, Phoenicians, Bactrians, etc. Very long, but its the kind of book you can enjoy reading just a part of, then come back if you like after 3 months (or three years) to read some more. Binding seems good.