Very accessible. Lots and lots of yummy maps. Definitely worth it for the accounts of Thermopylae and Plataea. Also of note is the description of (ancient) Egypt. ( )

For me, this was one of those books you read a teenager that has a big impact on you. I've always been interested in ancient history and I remember when I picked up the Penguin edition at a library when I was seventeen. I was immediately enthralled.

H creates a kaleidoscopic world full of unreliable information and myths. It's a world full of parables of divine retribution, weed smoking warrior queens, and gold eating ants. The book is called a history, and there are definitely historical aspects, much of the information is even correct, but it is a world distorted by the lens of an alien culture, yet also recognizable for the mere sake that Herodotus is also another human being despite the trappings of time. I would recommend this to any fan of LOTR or ASOIAF, which is what I read directly before this.

A mix of history, speculative geography, anthropology, and mythic poetry. It is probably the most colorful book I've ever read. It's a miracle because it seems to be the first work this colorful that was written, at least in the west. In fact, this book in some ways created the west through the framing of the story of "greeks and barbarians" and what led to their conflict. There are gorgeous sections like Xerxes' lament about the fleeting nature of life. This is a book, that because it became before genres, it manages to completely transcend them and provide the reader with a great story. ( )

Heart of my heart, a book I've been reading since Ancient Greek 300 last fall, basis of my summer research 2015. ( )

Herodotus is always amazing. The maps in this edition are extremely helpful. ( )

Why should anybody not a student of Ancient History be bothered reading Herodotus? Good question, and my answer is, for fun.

This is not what I would have said back in the days when I was studying Classics at the University of Melbourne. Classical Studies was not actually my initial choice for a second major: it was more a matter of what lectures were available as evening classes. However I soon fell in love with the subject because I had some wonderful lecturers to ignite my interest – notably Professor Michael Osborne, and Denis Pryor who took us for Greek and Roman Lit. I ended up spending many happy weekends absorbed in the books and journals in the Classics Library but keen as I was, I only browsed and read the required sections of Herodotus and his successor Thucydides. (I never got to Xenophon at all).

When one reads these key texts as a student, there’s an academic agenda underlying that reading. We had no personal computers or laptops in those days, much less an iPad, but the pen was always busy taking notes for the impending essay or exam. When one reads these histories for fun, at leisure, and spread over weeks and months of reading only when the mood strikes, one can enjoy the gossipy bits, the quirky details and the observations that remind us that the Ancients were not so very different to us after all. So any student dropping by to find erudite quotables will be disappointed with my thoughts here – this post is strictly frivolous. Serious scholars who’ve stumbled here should abandon this site immediately…

The HistoriesThe other point to note is that there’s no way I could have afforded these lovely annotated editions with their bountiful maps and illustrations, even if they’d been available back then. These are handsome investment editions, and even though they are now much cheaper than they were when first published, (and you can get them in paperback) they’re still more expensive than the Penguin versions equivalent to the edition that I still have from all those years ago. (It’s just called The Histories). The Landmark Series is an indulgence.

To read the rest of my thoughts please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2012/05/25/the-landmark-herodotus-edited-by-robert-b-st... ( )