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WILLIAM A. JOHNSON, Professor of Classical Studies at Duke University, works broadly in the cultural history of Greece and Rome. He has lectured and published on Herodotus, Hesiod, Plato, Cicero, Pliny (both Elder and Younger), Gellius, Lucian and on a variety of topics relating to books and readers, both ancient and modern. Recent work has focused on establishing deep contextualization for specific ancient reading communities, with particular attention to the relationship between literary texts and social structure. His books include Readers and Reading Culture in the High Empire, a Study of Elite Reading Communities (Oxford, 2010); Ancient Literacies (with Holt Parker; Oxford, 2009), Bookrolls and Scribes in Oxyrhynchus (Toronto, 2004).
Johnson has chosen his selections from the Histories very well; readers will gain from these selections an excellent impression of the content and nature of Herodotus' work as a whole. The comments that Johnson offers on Herodotean motifs, themes, and recurring patterns, moreover, are outstanding-some of the best such comments I have ever read in a translation of the Histories. Armed with a knowledge of such patterns, readers should be well-quipped to appreciate Herodotus' achievement as an historian, thinker, and literary artist. - David Branscome, Florida State University William A. Johnson's The Essential Herodotus is a pleasurable and honest alternative for anyone not at leisure to read the massive original. It exposes the reader to the same marvellous variety of materials while remaining completely faithful to the historian's overarching concern, the Greco-Persian War and its causes. Thus, the reader experiences all the domains of Herodotus's research: foreign customs, folk traditions, storytelling, natural wonders and human marvels, divine forces obscurely present in human affairs, reflections on historical method, and of course wartime deeds both glorious and terrible. And Johnson's translation preserves all the charm of the Greek-its elegance, its frequent conversational tone, and its sly naivete. - James Andrews, Ohio University Professor Johnson succeeds in presenting the full range of Herodotus' interests (not just history as we know it, but history juxtaposed with and informed by ethnography, geography, primeval legend, and contemporary scientific debate) in a translation that is accurate, clear, and engaging. - Charles C. Chiasson, University of Texas at Arlington The selections reflect the wide-ranging nature of Herodotus' inquiries; the notes are concise, on-point, and informative, especially regarding major themes and historical method; and the lively and engaging translation retains the archaic storytelling features, the conversational tone, and the narrative brilliance of the original. This book will be extremely useful for anyone who teaches ancient Greek history or culture courses. - Christopher A. Baron, University of Notre Dame The Essential Herodotus allows the reader to travel the ancient world with a Greek storyteller, investigator and historian, whose range of interests was all encompassing, and who was a keen observer of the human condition in its physical and cultural environment. Johnson's sensitive comments justify his selections from Herodotus' history and show its unity of themes and literary richness. - Joseph Roisman, Colby College This well-judged selection and charming translation splendidly brings out the variety and delights of Herodotus' text. It embraces not only the famous battle accounts (Marathon, Salamis) but also the less familiar, equally captivating ethnographic narratives, from the marvels of Lydia to the romantic liaisons of Amazons and Sauromatae and the Scythians' cannabis use. Helpful subtitles and introductions to each section will prove invaluable to the general reader who is encountering Herodotus for the first time. - Emily Baragwanath, University of North Carolina
