The Histories of Herodotus by Herodotus

The Histories of Herodotus is considered one of the seminal works of history in Western literature. Written from the 450s to the 420s BC in the Ionic dialect of classical Greek, The Histories serves as a record of the ancient traditions, politics, geography, and clashes of various cultures that were known in the Mediterranean and Asia at that time. It is not an impartial record but it remains one of the West's most important sources regarding these affairs. Moreover, it established without precedent the genre and study of history in the Western world, although historical records and chronicles existed beforehand. Perhaps most importantly, it stands as one of the first, and surviving, accounts of the rise of the Persian Empire, the events of, and causes for, the Greco-Persian Wars between the Achaemenid Empire and the Greek city-states in the 5th century BC. Herodotus portrays the conflict as one between the forces of slavery (the Persians) on the one hand, and freedom (the Athenians and the confederacy of Greek city-states which united against the invaders) on the other. It is to be noted that irony informs this account, for at around the time that Herodotus was writing and researching his book, Athens was an imperialist Greek empire in its own right (see the prelude in the article Peloponnesian War).

The 37th greatest nonfiction book of all time


This book is on the following lists:

  1. - 41st on Harvard Book Store Staff's Favorite 100 Books (Harvard Book Store)
  2. - 50 Greatest Books of All Time (Globe and Mail)
  3. - The 100 Most Influential Books Ever Written (Martin Seymour-Smith)
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  7. - Masterpieces of World Literature (Frank N. Magill)
  8. - 110 Best Books: The Perfect Library (The Telegraph)
  9. - Books That Changed the World (Book)

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Name Binding Sales Rank Lowest New Lowest Used Published
Herodotus : The Histories (Penguin Classics) Paperback 3702754 $1,666.84 $891.96
The History Kindle Edition 135557 $9.99 2010
The Histories - Herodotus (Annotated) (Literary Classics Collection) Kindle Edition 476781 $1.99 2011
The History of Herodotus, Volume 2 Paperback 5168684 $9.99 $94.12 2014
The Histories of Herodotus, A Translation By George Rawlinson Paperback 1911593 $19.43 $22.49 2018
The History Of Herodotus illustrated Kindle Edition 659086 $3.99 2022
The Histories Book 7: Polymnia (Herodotus' Histories) (Volume 7) Paperback 9446755 $5.99 2014
History of Herodotus: A new English Version Volume 1 Hardcover 1072609 $30.95 2015
History of Herodotus: A new English Version Volume 2 Hardcover 1072610 $31.95 $43.43 2015
A Selection From the Histories of Herodotus Paperback 966419 $12.95 2017
The Histories of Herodotus: Volumes I & II Paperback 1202026 $14.99 2023
The History Of Herodotus; Volume 1 Hardcover 1684337 $26.95 2019
Euterpe: Being the Second Book of the Famous History of Herodotus Paperback 874946 $14.95 2017
The History Of Herodotus (Complete): Translated Into English By G. C. Macaulay Paperback 1392126 $18.00 2019
The History of Herodotus Hardcover 9241934 $10.00
The Histories of Herodotus, Volume 2 Hardcover 1650901 $25.95 $31.86 2016
Herodotus: The Histories in Greek + English (SPQR Study Guides) Kindle Edition 529051 $2.99 2013
Herodotus: The History Paperback 10456790 $12.25 2013
The Nine Books of the History of Herodotus: Translated From the Text of Thomas Gaisford, With Notes, Illustrative and Critical, and a Geographical ... of the History, and an Introductory Essay Hardcover 1444877 $33.71 2018
The Histories Book 4: Melopomene (Herodotus' Histories) Kindle Edition 574041 2015
The Histories of Herodotus (Unexpurgated Edition) (Halcyon Classics) Kindle Edition 253677 $0.99 2010
The Histories of Herodotus (Classic Reprint) Paperback 5611063 $12.08 2012
Herodotus: Histories Book IX (Cambridge Greek and Latin Classics) Hardcover 4849882 $63.98 $109.82 2003
The History of Herodotus: Translated From the Ancient Greek by George Rawlinson (V.3 ) (1909) Paperback 1751733 $23.99 $30.80 2009
The History Of Herodotus, Volume 1 Hardcover 1817179 $26.95 $33.05 2015
The Histories: Titan Classics (Illustrated) Kindle Edition 683815 2015
The History of Herodotus, Volume 1 Hardcover 6324179 $27.95 $56.00 2015
The Boys' And Girls' Herodotus: Being Parts Of The History Of Herodotus (1908) Paperback 4485018 $25.56 2010
The Histories of Herodotus Paperback 4921273 $30.00 $30.00 2005
The History of Herodotus: A New English Version, Ed. With Copious Notes and Appendices, Illustrating the History and Geography of Herodotus, From the ... Results, Historical and Ethnographical, Which Paperback 914886 $19.95 $24.77 2018
The Histories (Barnes & Noble Classics) Paperback 192949 $2.75 $0.01 2005
The History of Herodotus Paperback 259249 $11.37 2017
The Histories Book 2: Euterpe (Herodotus' Histories) (Volume 2) Paperback 4408952 $4.49 $6.49 2014
The History of Herodotus Hardcover 8520594 $5.50
The Great Historians of the Ancient World (Illustrated) In 3 vol. Vol. I: The History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides, The Histories by Herodotus, ... Plutarch Lives by Plutarch and others Kindle Edition 2070 $0.00 2021
The Boys and Girls Herodotus: Being Parts of the History of Herodotus (Classic Reprint) Paperback 1226299 $11.54 $6.26 2016
The History of Herodotus, Volume 2 Paperback 1399397 $19.02 $23.77 2010
The history of Herodotus: Volume 1 Paperback 2355109 $21.85 $38.82 2010
HISTORY OF HERODOTUS VOLUME ONE (EVERYMAN\'S LIBRARY 405) Hardcover 5842208 $31.57
The Histories Book 2: Euterpe Kindle Edition 609610 2012
The History of Herodotus Hardcover 9948338 $21.88
History of Herodotus (Optimized for Kindle) Kindle Edition 870402 2003
The Boys' And Girls' Herodotus: Being Parts Of The History Of Herodotus (1908) Hardcover 7502256 $37.56 2010
The Histories Book 4: Melpomene (Herodotus' Histories) (Volume 4) Paperback 1687537 $3.16 $5.59 2014
[(The Histories)] [By (author) Herodotus ] published on (May, 2014) Hardcover 1465356 $32.31 2014
The History of Herodotus Hardcover 8537880 $6.24
The Histories Book 9: Calliope (Herodotus' Histories) (Volume 9) Paperback 1227989 $6.99 $8.26 2014
The Histories Book 2: Euterpe (Herodotus' Histories) Kindle Edition 2649422 2015
The Histories Book 1: Clio Kindle Edition 743746 2012
Herodotus, Book Euterpe: Containing A Description Of Egypt, Its Civil And Religious Antiquities, And History (1836) (Greek Edition) Paperback 1620039 $16.76 $16.81 2010
The Complete Works of Herodotus. Illustrated: The Histories Kindle Edition 3590 $0.00 2021
The History of Herodotus (complete) Hardcover 10816718 $7.00
The History of Herodotus, literally translated into English; illustrated with notes from Larcher, Rennell To which is added, Larcher's Table of the Chronology of Herodotus Paperback 971092 $26.99 2011
The History of Herodotus, Volume 1 Paperback 6821206 $19.48 $43.37 2010
The History of Herodotus, Volume 1 Hardcover 9523012 2007
The History of Herodotus, Literally Tr. by a Graduate of the University Paperback 1281007 $17.95 $22.41 2018
The History of Herodotus: Bilingual Edition (English - Greek) Paperback 323420 $31.39 2017
The History of Herodotus Kindle Edition 587003 2014
The history of Herodotus Paperback 6875211 $18.55 $24.59 2010
The History of Herodotus Hardcover 8435834 $26.95 $33.05 2015
By Herodotus - On the War for Greek Freedom: Selections from the 'histories' (1/30/03) Paperback 781670 $17.29 $4.52 2003
The History of Herodotus, Literally Translated Into English, Vol. 1 of 2: Illustrated with Notes, Explanatory and Critical, from Larcher, Rennell, ... Which Is Added Larcher's Table of the Chronol Hardcover 814487 $31.65 2018
Herodotus' Histories: Euterpe: Herodotus' Firsthand Account of the Ancient African Civilization of Kemet (Egypt) Paperback 1338347 $14.85 $17.74 2016
Herodotus Reader: Annotated Passages from Books I-IX of the Histories (Focus Classical Commentary) Paperback 1114789 $21.45 $30.35 2010
The History of Herodotus, Volume 2 Hardcover 1294816 $27.95 $32.69 2015
The History of Herodotus, Volume 2 Paperback 4389669 $20.90 $34.78 2010
The History: Herodotus Hardcover 552747 $37.85 $6.97 1987
The Boys' And Girls' Herodotus: Being Parts Of The History Of Herodotus (1908) Paperback 4742100 $22.69 2008
The Landmark Herodotus: The Histories (Landmark Books) Paperback 22143 $15.36 $9.96 2009
Herodotus: Histories Book V (Cambridge Greek and Latin Classics) Kindle Edition 869244 $32.00 2013
Herodotus, The Histories: Vol. 1 of 2: Parallel English/Greek (Forgotten Books) Paperback 847898 $13.33 $33.86 2007
The History of Herodotus. English version, with notes and appendices historical and ethnographical, have been obtained in the progress of Cuneiform ... H. Rawlinson and Sir J. G. Wilkinson. Vol. I Paperback 1104695 $39.04 $109.61 2011
The History of Herodotus - Complete [Annotated] [Illustrated] Kindle Edition 54693 $0.99 2008
Herodotus: Histories Book VIII (Cambridge Greek and Latin Classics) Hardcover 5684705 $145.00 $54.98 2008
The Histories of Herodotus, A Translation By A.D. Godley Paperback 3187226 $18.08 $18.02 2018
The History Of Herodotus illustrated edition Kindle Edition 323740 $5.99 2021
The Histories of Herodotus Kindle Edition 78305 2017
The Histories of Herodotus Paperback 8049862 $29.75 $3.99 2012
The Histories Book 1: Clio (Herodotus' Histories) (Volume 1) Paperback 5541417 $4.49 $6.49 2014
The Histories Kindle Edition 1425842 2018
Histories by Herodotus and History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides with Illustrations by Nicholas Tamblyn and Katherine Eglund (Illustrated) Paperback 744152 $16.89 2018
Herodotus the Histories Hardcover 1745117 $202.95 $90.84
THE HISTORIES Kindle Edition 1800557 2018
The Tale of the Great Persian War: From the Histories of Herodotus (Classic Reprint) Hardcover 587262 $27.27 2018
The Early History of Egypt, from the Old Testament, Herodotus, Manetho (Classic Reprint) Paperback 6370899 $11.66 2012
The History of Herodotus (Volume 1) Paperback 686782 $12.76 2018
The tale of the great Persian war from the histories of Herodotus Kindle Edition 1028547 $8.95 2018
The History of Herodotus, translated from the Greek. With notes. Paperback 1424816 $30.80 $28.11 2011
The History Of Herodotus; Volume 4 Hardcover 1555300 $26.95 2019
The History of Herodotus, Volume 1 Paperback 1437734 $19.48 $24.48 2010
The Histories Book 8: Urania (Herodotus' Histories) Paperback 507521 $6.99 2014
Herodotus Classics: The History Paperback 803281 $15.59 2019
The Histories of Herodotus Interlinear English Translation Kindle Edition 729346 $4.99 2013
The History Of Herodotus illustrated Kindle Edition 682030 $2.99 2022
The Histories, Herodotus Paperback 914552 $10.73 2020
The Boys' and Girls' Herodotus (Classic Reprint): Being Parts of the History of Herodotus; Edited for Boys and Girls, With an Introduction Paperback 999682 $20.27 2018
The Landmark Herodotus: The Histories Hardcover 942932 $350.80 $94.42 2007
The Histories by Herodotus (Enhanced Kindle Edition) Kindle Edition 266185 $0.99 2006
Herodotus: Histories Book VIII (Cambridge Greek and Latin Classics) Paperback 1470346 $37.78 $28.00 2008
Herodotus: Histories Book V (Cambridge Greek and Latin Classics) Paperback 1255188 $32.92 $28.00 2014
Landmark Herodotus Hardcover 544247 $30.02 $27.50
The History of Herodotus - Volume 1 and 2 (Illustrated, Annotated) Kindle Edition 512428 $0.99 2012
The History of Herodotus: Translated From the Ancient Greek by George Rawlinson (V.4 ) (1909) Paperback 1751235 $23.99 2009
The History of Herodotus: Translated From the Ancient Greek by George Rawlinson (V.1 ) (1909) Paperback 1752227 $26.99 2009
Histories by Herodotus and History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides (Illustrated) Kindle Edition 629086 $1.79 2018
Herodotus: The History Paperback 785237 $9.90 $1.59 1988
HERODOTUS THE HISTORIES. Paperback 10405034 $2.40
Herodotus: The Histories (Texts from Ancient Greece Book 2) Kindle Edition 1080439 $1.99 2012
History of Herodotus, Volume 1, The Hardcover 8338261 $22,019.76 $75.95 2003
Herodotus: The Histories (Penguin Classics) Paperback 1387436 $22.75 $1.56 1996
Herodotus: Histories Book VIII (Cambridge Greek and Latin Classics) Kindle Edition 614148 $32.00 2007
The History Of Herodotus (LARGE PRINT EDITION) Hardcover 1528395 $56.06 $56.00 2011
The History Of Herodotus Hardcover 9624336 $45.09 $45.04 2010
The History Of Herodotus Paperback 10408566 $41.87 $30.02 2007
Herodotus: Histories I (Greek Texts) Paperback 1169554 $37.95 $21.98 2002
Herodotus: Histories Book IX (Cambridge Greek and Latin Classics) (Greek and English Edition) Paperback 2118438 $33.11 $20.25 2003