The Landmark Herodotus: The Histories | 
 enlarge | Author: Herodotus
Creators: Robert B. Strassler, Rosalind Thomas, Andrea L. Purvis
Publisher: Pantheon
Category: Book
List Price: $45.00
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Avg. Customer Rating:  19 reviews
Sales Rank: 3863
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 1024
Shipping Weight (lbs): 3.6
Dimensions (in): 9.4 x 7.6 x 2.1
ISBN: 0375421092
Dewey Decimal Number: 930
EAN: 9780375421099
ASIN: 0375421092
Publication Date: November 6, 2007
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Product Description
From the editor of the widely praised The Landmark Thucydides, a new Landmark Edition of The Histories by Herodotus, the greatest classical work of history ever written.
Herodotus was a Greek historian living in Ionia during the fifth century BCE. He traveled extensively through the lands of the Mediterranean and the Black Sea and collected stories, and then recounted his experiences with the varied people and cultures he encountered. Cicero called him “the father of history,” and his only work, The Histories, is considered the first true piece of historical writing in Western literature. With lucid prose that harks back to the time of oral tradition, Herodotus set a standard for narrative nonfiction that continues to this day.
In The Histories, Herodotus chronicles the rise of the Persian Empire and its dramatic war with the Greek city-states. Within that story he includes rich veins of anthropology, ethnography, geology, and geography, pioneering these fields of study, and explores such universal themes as the nature of freedom, the role of religion, the human costs of war, and the dangers of absolute power.
Ten years in the making, The Landmark Herodotus gives us a new, dazzling translation by Andrea L. Purvis that makes this remarkable work of literature more accessible than ever before. Illustrated, annotated, and filled with maps, this edition also includes an introduction by Rosalind Thomas and twenty-one appendices written by scholars at the top of their fields, covering such topics as Athenian government, Egypt, Scythia, Persian arms and tactics, the Spartan state, oracles, religion, tyranny, and women.
Like The Landmark Thucydides before it, The Landmark Herodotus is destined to be the most readable and comprehensively useful edition of The Histories available.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 14 more reviews...
 Landmark? Not really. June 28, 2008
3 out of 5 found this review helpful
Having previously read an inexpensive edition of Thucydides' account of the Peloponnesian War, I understand the difficulty of making one's way through a book of ancient history without the aid of maps or footnotes. When I decided to read Herodotus' Histories, then, I was thrilled to find this one, which advertises copious annotation.
And copious annotation it delivers. It has a map about every three pages (with only the locations of immediate interest labeled, which is a nice simplification). It also provides dates in our modern time-scale, which is helpful, and has interesting photos sprinkled throughout. Essays follow the text to give further insight into a smattering of interesting topics. It aims to provide, under one cover, everything an interested student would want to look up in order to understand the text. An admirable goal.
The problem is that Strassler chains himself rigidly to a poorly designed annotation system. He boasts in his introduction that every location mentioned in the text is found on a map he provides. That's great, but he also inserts a footnote for every location mentioned in the text! Every mention of Asia, the Nile River and the Peloponnese gets a footnote. I'm 400 pages into the text - I know where the Peloponnese is!
And in drawing his maps, he misses perfect chances to be helpful. Herodotus will describe beautifully the path taken by Xerxes' army, and Strassler stiffly provides a map with all the locations labeled. Would it be so difficult to draw lines where the Greek and Persian armies marched?!
He also follows the ridiculous policy of starting over his footnote numbering every verse. There are maybe 20 verses per page, so if each verse has one footnote that means that each of the 20 footnotes at the bottom of the page will be marked "1." With 10-20 footnotes per page, this creates quite a jungle to fight through when looking for the note you're interested in.
And most of the footnotes are on topics of no interest at all (debate as to the size of a ship due to uncertainty in the measurement systems; the Greek word for "lord" used in in the text in reference to Apollo was a specific word used only in reference to deities...), while situations crying out for annotation (references to mythology or a previously mentioned person) go by in silence.
He also fills the 2-inch margins with a running summary of the text. Since the text is a straightforward history, a line-by-line summary is not helpful.
So in summary, I had high hopes for this edition and was sadly disappointed. The book has 1000 pages and they are larger that the standard format, making it somewhat unwieldy. That would be fine, except that probably 60% of the additional paper was a waste of a perfectly good tree.
All that said, the maps are helpful. Just don't expect more than that.
 A fantastic work June 27, 2008
Wow! I can't believe I actually read this entire book...and thought doing so was really cool! To be sure, looking up each footnote slowed the reading down considerably, making reading more than 15 pages an effort, but on the other hand, knowing where all the locations were helped give more meaning to the stories. The maps every couple pages were excellent.
Essentially, the text is a 2500 year old first hand account of Herodotus' travels throughout the ancient Greek sphere of influence, Scythians, Persians (before Islam), Egyptians, etc, ranging from the east to west Mediterranean civilizations to civilizations up the Nile and out and around the Black Sea and going even further out to where India is today. Many, many details of many, many ancient cultures are described--what could be more fascinating??
There were also 20-25 short essays (about 100 pages total) after the text that were all excellent. I read these essays as they were referenced in the text as well as after I read the entire text. The translation was excellent making the stories and descriptions very readable and fun.
The Landmark Herodotus June 9, 2008
An inspiring work for all us amateur historians.
The translation is intelligent yet conversational, like sitting in front of a great storyteller (which is what Herodotus truly was). The side notes are helpful for search purposes, and the footnotes, photos, numerous maps and illustrations provide the modern-world connection to this ancient text.
I had heard this was a comprehensive edition, and I was not disappointed. But what is a pleasant surprise is how useful and usable this edition is.
One wishes all histories were organized this way--it shows that true interactivity doesn't need a computer.
 Save your money. Better and Cheaper Herodotus editions available April 15, 2008
31 out of 39 found this review helpful
Let me start out by saying that, in theory, a "Landmark Herodotus" has much promise as an idea, but not in the execution of this volume, I'm afraid.
The model that worked so well for the Landmark Thucydides -- text with maps and appendices to explain larger themes and issues -- does not work so well for Herodotus.
While the maps are a welcome adornment, what this volume lacks are specific and copius textual notes to explain the material. Instead we are shunted to various appendices at the end that are all done by fine scholars, but are not directly tied back to the actual textual material.
Instead of purchasing this hardcover volume, I highly recommend the much cheaper Oxford Classics paperback edition of Herodutus. It is an excellent English language translation with dozens of pages of highly specific endnotes elucidating the material.
Herodotus is a wide ranging, expansive read in contrast to Thucydides, who is only covering a condensed period of history spanning some 20-30 years at its core, and is limited in its geographic scale to mostly Greece, Asia Minor and the Agean. [The notable exception being the great chapter on the Athenian expedition to attack Syracuse in Sicily].
If you must purchase this volume, I suggest waiting for the paperback edition to come out. The translation is a decent one, so it has merit from that standpoint. But the format that worked seemlessly for Thucydides, is lacking for Herodotus. With the wealth of material covered by the father of History -- a few appendices cannot do the work justice. You want to be able to follow along as you read the tales, and have the option of checking a source or an explanatory note if a subject strikes your imagination.
In many ways the experience of this volume is like reading a modern tourist guidebook for a country with all of the accomodations reviews for each city in one appendix, and all the restaurant reviews in another appendix.
Wonderful classic historical read April 12, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
There are certain classic texts that every serious student of history should own. However, the last thing you would ever probably want to do with some is take them off your shelf and read them. The archaic language, the stultifying syntax, and the obscure references make these works all but impenetrable to even the most educated mind.
This is decidedly not the case with this beautiful new edition of the works of Herodotus with a new, readable and understandable translation. Herodotus, commonly known as the father of history, traces in his Histories the growth of the Persian Empire, its invasion of the city-states of Greece, and their ultimate repulsion by the barely united Greek forces. Instead of a dry recitation of facts, we get an exciting story of abductions, betrayals, exhilarating battles and incredible feats of bravery that would make a soap opera enthusiast proud. But this is not a comic book version of a classic work. It is in fact a highly accessible translation that is a must for all scholars of ancient cultures, but also a valuable resource for all us dilettantes.
Robert B. Strassler, the editor, has done a yeoman's job in publishing this work for a large audience. It begins with a lengthy introduction that gives us background on the widely traveled Herodotus, describes his work and puts in into context. In addition, the volume is full of drawings, photos, innumerable maps and side notes that add considerably to our understanding. If that wasn't enough, it concludes with twenty-one appendices on critical topics by leading classical scholars, as well as a comprehensive index.
Herodotus was more than just a historian for he frequently writes about the culture, geography, religions and legends of the people and areas he describes. These in-depth descriptions add fullness and dimension to our understanding of these events.
With the publication of The Landmark Herodotus, we have a valuable and usable addition to the library of classic histories. Therefore, it will do a lot more than merely look good on your bookshelf.
Armchair Interviews says: Excellent readable book of ancient history.
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