Walter Blanco's acclaimed translation of The Histories isnow available in its entirety in this revised and expanded NortonCritical Edition. Herodotus's history is the earliest continuous prose narrativein Western literature. His long narrative?longer than eitherof the Homeric epics?continues to hold us spellbound becauseof the author's storytelling powers and intelligent curiosity. The perfect introduction to Herodotus, this Norton CriticalEdition includes the complete text of The Histories. Thetranslation is fully annotated and is accompanied by anintroduction, a chronology of events, and a note on the PersianWars. Seven maps?all new to the Second Edition?givereaders a visual understanding of events and places, 490?479B.C.E. "Backgrounds" includes a rich collection of historical works byAeschylus, Bacchylides, Thucydides, Aristotle, and Plutarch. New tothe Second Edition are contrasting accounts, by Diodorus of Sicilyand Strabo, of the Amazons who were believed to be living in themountainous regions. "Commentaries" is divided into two sections. Early moderninterpretations are represented by Isaac Taylor, John Stuart Mill,and Thomas Babington Macaulay. Seventeen modernassessments?three of them new to the SecondEdition?focus on historical origins and backgrounds,Herodotus's place in history, and central issues concerning boththe Persian Wars and Herodotus's reckoning of them. The newcontributors are François Hartog, James Redfield, and SiepStuurman. A Glossary, Selected Bibliography, and Index are alsoincluded.