Herodotus covers a remarkable swath of time and space, ranging from Egyptian pharaohs
from c. 3000 BCE to the final expulsion of the Persians from European soil in 479 BCE and from Libya
in the west to India in the south to central Asia in the east and Thrace in the north. His
recurrent thematic elements include justice through vengeance, the contrast between free and
enslaved peoples, the power of the gods as expressed through oracles, the constantly shifting
fortunes of mankind and the disastrous consequences of arrogance and excessive pride.

Herodotus
has been described elsewhere as the world's first tourist, a reflection of his apparently wide
travel, fascination with other cultures and careful reporting of wondrous facts from the far corners
of the world. His story of the primary conflict is frequently interrupted by discussions of the
customs of numerous tribes and peoples. Through these interludes we learn that the Persians get
drunk to discuss all important decisions, the Lydians prostitute their daughters to raise money for
dowries, the Babylonians bury their dead in honey, the Egyptians bathe in cold water four times per
day, the Scythians drink the blood of the first man they kill and the Gyzantes paint themselves red
and eat monkeys.

Despite his "father of history" title, Herodotus retains several
characteristics of earlier oral and written taletellers, including imagined dialogue to lend drama
and human texture to events. He is also, whether from poor sources or conscious guesswork,
frequently inaccurate in his depictions. To assist the reader in separating fact from fiction and
illuminating those issues where scholars disagree, Marincola has in this Penguin Classics edition
added an explanatory Introduction and extensive end-notes (627 in total). Reading the notes
definitely disrupts the flow of the story but I found them essential to reading The Histories as
anything more than a work of fiction.

While the Aubrey De Selincourt translation is extremely
readable and, as noted above, the Marincola additions are immensely helpful, this edition suffers
from a paucity of good maps. The four that are included are very helpful in keeping track of the
large number of no longer existing states and peoples and their geographic relation to each other
and to natural landmarks. However, there are numerous cities referenced in the text yet not shown
on the maps. More significantly, there are no maps to show in detail the settings of the major
battles. This omission, combined with Herodotus' rather sketchy rendering, makes it difficult to
holistically visualize the battles.

Notwithstanding these relatively minor issues, The
Histories is highly recommended. It is impossible to read without increasing one's recognition of
our heritage of rampant, pervasive superstition and lives lived under the constant threat of
violence and deepening one's appreciation of the tenuous nature of liberty.

Herodotus
gives a remarkably well balanced account of events, recognizing the motivations and merits of all
but a few Greek cities who sided with Persia (Thebes, for example, does not fare well under
Herodotus' stylus). True, he takes some digs at Sparta for being obsessed with festivals, but in
the event Sparta's bravery is praised no less than Athens'. Herodotus was writing as the
Peloponnesian War was breaking out, and his declaration that Athens and Sparta together are
unbeatable is poignant in light of Greece's impending loss of freedom, a freedom that would not be
restored for over two thousand years.

Ultimately, The Histories is that best of classics, one that
can be enjoyed by all, not just those with an interest in Ancient Greece. With all of the
digressions, there is truly something in here for everyone.

But let that pass. If you saw the movie "The English
Patient," you may remember the rest of the story. You recall that Gyges the house servant, at the
behest of the Candaules himself, hid behind the curtain and saw the queen naked. . The queen
(Herodotus does not give her a name) observed the observer, and next day - backed by her armed guard
- she confronted him with a stark choice: either you kill the king, or we kill you.

Rawlinson
says that Gyges "made a choice of life for himself," which is good enough. But Herodotus says that
Gyges decided to "perieinai," and perhaps nothing in the whole work better exemplifies the peculiar
genius of the author. "Perieinai" translates roughly as "to be there when it is all over." The touch
is light, deft and pointed - as someone has said, almost Mozartian in its seeming ease. All this in
just about the first prose narrative ever written.

"Histories" is too grand a word. In one sense,
Herodotus is the guy down at the end of the bar cadging drinks for stories. But no one ever did it
better, and no one makes it look easier (which, surely, it is not). The question remains: was
Herodotus in on the joke? I like to think that yes, just maybe he was.