Amazon.com description: Product Description: Herodotus of Halicarnassus (c. 484 BC-c. 425 BC) was a Greek historian who lived in the 5th century BC and is regarded as the "Father of History" in Western culture. He was the first historian to collect his materials systematically, test their accuracy to a certain extent and arrange them in a well-constructed and vivid narrative. He is almost exclusively known for writing The Histories, a record of his "inquiries" into the origins of the Greco-Persian Wars which occurred in 490 and 480-479 BC-especially since he includes a narrative account of that period, which would otherwise be poorly documented, and many long digressions concerning the various places and peoples he encountered during wide-ranging travels around the lands of the Mediterranean and Black Sea. Although some of his stories are not completely accurate, he states that he is only reporting what has been told to him.