Histories

"This edition reproduces the fluent pace and readability of Herodotus' world-encompassing work. Mensch has produced a close translation of Herodotus' Greek that is also an engrossing read in English. As an old-time Herodotean, I found myself drawn into Herodotus' universe of history and story all over again. Combined with Romm's elegant introduction, which conveys the lure of Herodotus' work, the lucid maps and tables, and the pertinent, uncluttered notes, this is an edition to read for pleasure and for education. I recommend it to future students of Herodotus and their instructors, and to any reader who wants to discover and rediscover Herodotus in a vibrant new translation."
    —Emily Greenwood, Yale University

SKU
27167g

Herodotus
Translated by Pamela Mensch
Edited, with Introduction and Notes, by James Romm

March 2014 - 584 pp.

Grouped product items
Format ISBN Price Qty
Paper 978-1-62466-113-6
$16.00
Instructor Examination (Review) Copy 978-1-62466-113-6
$3.00

eBook available for $13.95. Click HERE for more information.

This volume includes a wealth of helpful footnotes; more than a dozen maps and illustrations; a chronology of the Archaic Age; a glossary of main characters, places, and terms; suggested further reading; and an index of proper nouns.

 

Reviews:

"This edition reproduces the fluent pace and readability of Herodotus' world-encompassing work. Mensch has produced a close translation of Herodotus' Greek that is also an engrossing read in English. As an old-time Herodotean, I found myself drawn into Herodotus' universe of history and story all over again. Combined with Romm's elegant introduction, which conveys the lure of Herodotus' work, the lucid maps and tables, and the pertinent, uncluttered notes, this is an edition to read for pleasure and for education. I recommend it to future students of Herodotus and their instructors, and to any reader who wants to discover and rediscover Herodotus in a vibrant new translation."
    —Emily Greenwood, Yale University

 

"Unadorned, readable, reliable. . . . If you want your Herodotus straight, but with no forfeiture of readability, I suggest Mensch."
    —Simon Hornblower, in The Wall Street Journal

 

"A well-presented volume with an easy-to-handle and clear layout, including the essential chapter numbers for rapid reference. It has a short introduction from Romm, which is designed to help students orientate themselves in the world of Herodotus. . . . He also usefully provides frequent footnotes to the text (on the same page) to explain and expand upon possible difficulties in the text. . . . There are helpful maps and some illustrations, as well as a useful list of main characters and places, which make the overall presentation highly professional and user friendly.
   "The final recommendation, however, must depend on the quality of the translation itself: Mensch's version is modern and highly readable, making Herodotus's narrative race along.
   "Other versions of Herodotus are of course available but the layout and consideration shown to the reader make this one worthy of serious consideration as a textbook."
    —The Journal of Classics Teaching

 

About the Authors:

Pamela Mensch and James Romm have collaborated as translator and editor since 2004, when they began work on The Landmark Arrian (Pantheon 2010). Their work includes the following Hackett volumes: Plutarch: Lives that Made Greek History and Alexander the Great: Selections from Arrian, Diodorus, Plutarch, and Quintus Curtius.

Mensch's translation of Diogenes Laertius' Lives and Doctrines of Eminent Philosophers is forthcoming from Harvard Universtiy Press.

James Romm is the James H. Ottaway, Jr. Professor of Classics at Bard College and author of Ghost on the Throne: The Death of Alexander the Great and the War for Crown and Empire and Dying Every Day: Seneca at the Court of Nero, both from Knopf.

Plutarch's Greek and Roman Lives, edited by James Romm and featuring the translations of Pamela Mensch, is forthcoming from Random House.