The Histories, by Herodotus, is part of the Barnes & Noble Classics series, which offers quality editions at affordable prices to the student and the general reader, including new scholarship, thoughtful design, and pages of carefully crafted extras. Here are some of the remarkable features of Barnes & Noble Classics: New introductions commissioned from today's top writers and scholars Biographies of the authors Chronologies of contemporary historical, biographical, and cultural events Footnotes and endnotes Selective discussions of imitations, parodies, poems, books, plays, paintings, operas, statuary, and films inspired by the work Comments by other famous authors Study questions to challenge the reader's viewpoints and expectations Bibliographies for further reading Indices & Glossaries, when appropriateAll editions are beautifully designed and are printed to superior specifications; some include illustrations of historical interest. Barnes & Noble Classics pulls together a constellation of influences—biographical, historical, and literary—to enrich each reader's understanding of these enduring works.

The world's first great narrative history, Herodotus's The Histories vividly describes how the Greeks—few in number, poor, and disunited—managed to repulse a massive invasion by the powerful Persian army in the 5th century b.c. This amazing upset victory changed the course of western civilization, as the cities that led the resistance—Athens and Sparta—became the two major powers on the Greek mainland. The remarkable period that followed introduced revolutionary ideas about democracy, education, philosophy, drama, and—thanks to Herodotus—the writing of history.

A wonderful storyteller, Herodotus filled the Histories with amusing anecdotes and dialogue, human details about the lives of important political figures, and a kaleidoscope of viewpoints from people of many lands. Magnificent in compass and enormously entertaining, the Histories is not only the leading source of original information for Greek history during the all-important period between 550 and 479 b.c., but also an artistic masterpiece that created a new genre of literature.

Features maps of several noted battles, index of proper names, and a general index.

Donald Lateiner teaches Greek, Latin, Ancient History and Comparative Folklore in the Humanities-Classics department at Ohio Wesleyan University. His scholarship focuses on Homer and Herodotus. He has published a book on each. He also researches nonverbal behaviors in ancient literature.