Best of Audible's "The Histories" by Herodotus

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"The Histories," by ancient Greek historian, Herodotus, is full of myths, folklore, legends, historical facts and tall tales. Herodotus basically traveled around the ancient world asking people questions about their lives and cultures and histories, and then wrote down whatever they told him. Because of this reporting style he is known as both the Father of History and The Father of Lies. Whether he records true tales or tall tales, it is interesting to know what ancient people said and thought about their world.

He covers a lot of ground, figuratively and literally. His writing style flows like the Meander river; full of twists and turns. I've listened to all the versions available on Audible up to 2016, and I feel David Timson's narration is best suited to Herodotus' tangential asides. His conversational style is engaging and enthusiastic. It's nice to hear someone giving the proper excitement for topics like the Battle of Marathon, Persian Culture, Egyptian Culture, Peloponnesian War, Greek-Persian Wars, the Artemesium battle, the Amazons and the Spartans at Thermopylae.

The 9 books are named after the 9 Muses, so here's a breakdown of topics:

Book 1
Lydia, Medes, Persia, Cyrus

Book 2
Egyptian And African History, Customs, Geography

Book 3
Cambyses Conquers Egypt; Cambyses' Death; Smerdis;
Darius; 20 Persian Satrapies

Book 4
Europeans; Darius Fails To Conquer Scythia;
Greek Colonies In Libya (Cyrene, Barca); Persia Invades Libya

Book 5
Persia Conquers Thrace, Paeonians;
Ionian Revolt Under Aristagoras Of Miletus;
Former Athens-Sparta Conflicts;
Athenian Tyrants & Democracy;
Conflict Between Athens And Darius Begins

Book 6
Miletus Conquered & Ionian Revolt Quelled;
Thrace, Athos, Macedonia Fall;
Rivalry Between Spartan Clemenes & Demaratus;
Athens-Aegina Conflict;
Athens & Plataeans Defeat Persia At Marathon Under Miltiades

Book 7
Darius Dies--Xerxes King;
Invasion Of Thrace, Thessalia;
Athens And Sparta Unite;
Shipwrecks Of Persians;
Leonidas' Defeat At Thermopylae

Book 8
Battle At Artemesium;
Attacks On Phocis, Boeotia, Delphi, Plataea, Athens;
Victory At Salamis

Book 9
Greek Victories At Plataea (Mardonius Killed); Greeks Attack Thebes; Victory At Mycale, Siege Of Sestos

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Very Entertaining

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I am a big history fan. However, I hesitated to purchase Herodotus' Histories as I was concerned it might be excessively archaic, difficult to follow, etc. Not so! The narrative is very entertaining, mixing history, anthropology, and myth. The reader is terrific--he seems perfectly suited to the material. I highly recommend this audio book to fans of history, and of the ancient Near East in particular.

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Herodotus + Vandiver = 2 Well-Spent Credits

Late in his life, Churchill was asked which year of that eventful life he would most like to relive. He responded unhesitatingly: 1940. Existential conflicts, where all the chips are on the table and the life or death of a culture hangs in the balance, have that kind of totemic power. It’s why we never tire of reliving that year in books and films. And it’s one of the reasons—perhaps the main reason—why Herodotus’ account of the years 490 and 480-479 BC never seem to gather as much dust as other ancient books.

Granted, the two failed Persian invasions of Greece take up a mere fraction of the Histories (and the final fraction at that.) But everything that goes before is an essential prelude. After all, for Herodotus, the Persian Wars are just the most recent chapter in a conflict that predates even the Trojan War. The setting of the drama is the eastern Mediterranean and western Asia; Herodotus paints a vivid picture of the customs and commerce, conflicts and conquests that shaped that vast region up until the final Greco-Persian showdown. It’s a tremendously entertaining story in and of itself.

Admittedly, there are moments—frequent with me—when you ask questions like, “Were the Persians really named after Perseus?” or “Why doesn’t Herodotus accept the theory that melting snow makes the Nile flood?” Here’s where I can’t recommend Professor Elizabeth Vandiver’s lectures on the Histories too highly. Listening to both recordings in tandem, the lectures become your footnotes (and Cliff’s Notes), giving everything from illuminating details to the broader intellectual milieu in which Herodotus worked and the shape of the book he left us. Plus, she’s a great teacher.

David Timson turns in his usual spectacular performance here, rendering even the more tedious passages—such as the Homeric catalogue of Persian forces—listenable. For over 27 hours, he knows precisely where to place every emphasis and inuendo.

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Bloody Good Read!

The father of historical writing describes the granddaddy of all wars, the Greco-Persian conflicts, in biblically gory detail. This is much too exciting and dreadful to listen to right before going to bed. It's a magnificent tale, not only of wars but of cultures, customs and shocking rituals. Anyone who loves histories will eat this book up, and it's read charmingly too.

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Best Narrator Ever

David Timson makes this classic a real pleasure to listen to. His voice kept me engaged the whole time. Highly recommend!

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It's like story time with a grandparent.

It's like story time with a grandparent. David Timson delivers an engaging presentation of an accessible translation.

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Great hearing all I would probably never have read

As far as I am concerned Herodotus' Histories is the perfect sort of text for an audio book. It's the foundation of so many stories we know and have heard retold many times. It's amazingly rich with cultural detail and gossip from the ancient world. It's just cool to hear humans trying to work through the meaning of myth and lies and the possibility of an objective historical account. But it is long...and, in places, not as absorbing. I was glad to listen to it because I don't think I could have gotten through it reading. And I was very glad to not be in college needing to remember it all for a test! I would highly recommend Elizabeth Vandiver's lectures on Herodotus: The Father of History as a companion. I listened to Vandiver's lectures before I listened to the full text of Herodotus, and that helped me to keep track of the rambling stories and to contextualize Herodotus' work.

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Great!

The narrator sounded as though he wrote the book. To the point bare bones history at its best.

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A Delightful Classic

I always enjoy Herodotus, and David Timson does a truly wonderful job as narrator. Many hours of thought-provoking listening pleasure.

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Bronze Age History Brought to Life

I'd read portions of Histories in High School and College and found the reading pretty tough, especially the passages on geography. David Timson performs a magnificent narration of Herodotus' histories of the Greek and Persian empires that keeps the listener's attention. If your only exposure to the Greek/Persian wars has been via the movies like "300", you owe yourself a listen or reading of these works; Herodotus provides a more balanced perspective of the Persian and Greek conflict and cultures.

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