Herodotus: The Persian War (Translations from Greek and Roman Authors)

This was purchased as a Christmas present and the recipient seemed thrilled to have it as an addition to her reference library.

I got this from a second hand book store while I was living in Cambridge, England. I was going on a train trip to Scotland and wanted a small book to read. I loved it! It is now more than 15 years later, I still read it every few years or so. I believe this book is part of a series put together for British students preparing for their A-levels. I do not have the benefits of a classics education so I found the background material interspersed through this abridged text extremely helpful in understanding what was going on -- really basic question like "why did Leonidas had to hold out onto the death? What was the military objective of all this?" I found the translation to be excellent. I cannot read the original so this is just a user opinion, not an expert judgement. After reading this book I have picked up two other complete translations of Herodotus by different people. Neither is as good as the translation in this version.

This is a 1982 textbook for those sitting the GCSE Classical Civilisation exam. It is still utilised by the OCR Board for one of their ten literature topics. Until recently it has been very difficult to obtain, but is now available again in a digital reprint (2008). It covers the Persian War as described in Books 5-9 of Herodotus' Histories. To simplify the subject for schoolchildren, only the key sections are translated, and even these may be subject to abridgment. Shepherd provides a useful introduction and writes his own bridging passages to cover missing sections. The translation is not as entertaining as that by Robin Waterfield (ISBN 0192824252) but it is better adapted to a younger audience being introduced to Herodotus for the first time. Alas, Amazon continue to confuse this book with Rawlinson's complete translation of Herodotus' Histories, 'The Persian Wars', as revealed by their links to 'Other Editions'.

This book is very well laid out and clearly written. It is accessible to students and adults alike. There are useful maps and glossary. The introduction is very informative.

beautiful and enlightening.