"The father of history," as Cicero called him, and a writer possessed of remarkable narrative gifts, enormous scope, and considerable charm, Herodotus has always been beloved by readers well-versed in the classics. Compelled by his desire to "prevent the traces of human events from being erased by time," Herotodus recounts the incidents preceding and following the Persian Wars. He gives us much more than military history, though, providing the fullest portrait of the classical world of the 5th and 6th centuries.

Translated by Robin Waterfield, a distinguished translator whose version of Plato's Republic has been described as `the best available', this readable new translation is supplemented with expansive notes to help the reader appreciate the book in depth.