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 enlarge | Author: Herodotus
Creators: Robert B. Strassler, Rosalind Thomas, Andrea L. Purvis
Publisher: Pantheon
Category: Book
List Price: $45.00
Buy New: $27.51
You Save: $17.49 (39%)
New (33) Used (8) from $27.51
Avg. Customer Rating:  20 reviews
Sales Rank: 5152
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
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Wonderful classic historical read April 12, 2008
5 out of 5 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.
Is Your Figure Less Than Greek? March 27, 2008
11 out of 11 found this review helpful
Excuse the old song, but I could not help but to use it for this splendid book. Let me start by the quality of the production and material. The paper is of high quality, especially important in a book of this size. There is but little bleed from the reverse of each page. The paper is smooth and displays the fonts crisply. The binding is superb. You may lay it open nearly at any page and it splays for your waiting eyes.
All the old cob webs are swept away by this clean prose. Yet there is no edgy try at the avant-guard or hyper-modern. Something of a voice manages to come through, but never in a self-conscious manner. We hear the stories with their deep meanings, but not troubling over the facticity of any moment.
The Histories are laid bare without attempt to count the number of ships or match events to dates. Strassler eases you into the panorama of this great work to read and to see it on its own terms. The great assistance of the format: the maps, the notes and the gloss -- all make this work accessible as it has never been.
Only because I had a highly skilled Classics professor, and he an expert in comparative Ancient Greek, was I able to have a tour through this work at a tender age. Now you can have quite a bit in your reading chair.
You will be captive as the text reveals Solon at the palace of Croesus. How the great law giver and traveler lays out his argument that no one can be judged as while alive. And you will pause. You are reading this tome, not so much as one wanting the history, but as one who seeks the paideia, the Greek way.
The page layout has everything you can ask for; and then are all the appendices. Just enough photographs.
Can you say WOW! March 16, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I have been working through The Well-Educated Mind by Susan Wise-Bauer, and I have been dreading this big volume of Herodotus. I stumbled upon this edition in the library, and what a great find! It has maps,explanatory footnotes, summaries of each paragraph along the margins, pictures of archaelogical sights, and more! The translation is wonderfully readable too.
I heartily recommend this version!
 Another Excellent Landmark Edition February 29, 2008
13 out of 13 found this review helpful
Like the Landmark Thucydides, the Landmark Herodotus is an excellent edition, with a good introduction, copious notes, 127 maps, 21 appendices, a glossary, bibliography, dated timeline, and index. Being a huge fan of the Thucydides edition, I was hoping for a Landmark Herodotus, and am overall very impressed with the book. The only criticism I have is in the translation. The Thucydides edition used Richard Crawley's fine and well established translation, but a new translation by Andrea Purvis was used for Herodotus. Hers is not a bad translation, in fact I think it is probably very true to the original Greek, but it is simply not as elegantly done as George Rawlinson's The Histories (Everyman's Library). For example, here is how Purvis translated the Proem:
Herodotus of Halicarassus here presents his research so that human events do not fade with time. May the great and wonderful deeds - some brought forth by the Hellenes, others by the barbarians - not go unsung; as well as the causes that led them to make war on each other.
And Rawlinson's rendition of the same:
These are the researches of Herodotus of Halicarnassus, which he publishes, in the hope of thereby preserving from decay the remembrance of what men have done, and of preventing the great and wonderful actions of the Greeks and the Barbarians from losing their due meed of glory; and withal to put on record what were their grounds of feud.
Readers unfamiliar with other translations will probably not miss anything, but I must admit I found the translation a bit hard going at times. I would personally prefer a slightly less literal and more literary translation than a precise modern version that reads a bit tediously in places. But overall, this is a wonderful edition. Hope we get more Landmark editions, as Strassler seems to hint in his preface.
Best Herodotus you can get February 13, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
this is the most helpful Herodotus I've ever read (and I've read a few).
The maps, every chapter synopsis, and the notes make for the most informative reading of the work.
Its bulky and expensive, but if you care about Herodotus' work, its a must have.
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