The Histories

"The Histories" describes how a small band of Greek city states united to repel the might of the Persian empire. But while this epic struggle forms the core of his work, Herodotus' natural curiosity frequently gives rise to colourful digressions: a description of the natural wonders of Egypt; an account of European lake-dwellers; and far-fetched accounts of dog-headed men and gold-digging ants. With its kaleidoscopic blend of fact and legend, this text offers a compelling Greek view of the world of the 5th century BC.

“"De Sélincourt's pacy, natural-sounding, rendering, as superbly revised and annotated by John Marincola…was a game-changer…still reads freshly and is a bestseller six decades after its first publication." --Edith Hall, Times Literary Supplement”

"De S lincourt's pacy, natural-sounding, rendering, as superbly revised and annotated by John Marincola...was a game-changer...still reads freshly and is a bestseller six decades after its first publication." --Edith Hall, Times Literary Supplement

A Greek historian, Herodotus (c.485-425 BC) left his native town of Halicarnassus, a Greek colony, to travel extensively. He collected historical, geographical, ethnological, mytholgical and archaeological material for his histories. Aubrey de Selincourt has translated Livy, Herodotus and Arrian, all for Penguin Classics. John Marincola is Associate Professor of Classics at New York University.

The startling new novel from the author of King of the Badgers and the Man Booker-shortlisted The Northern Clemency. Philip Hensher's husband, Zaved Mahmood, was born in late 1970 in Dacca, then a regional capital of Pakistan. In the months following his birth, the eastern part of the country split from the western side in a war of independence of savage violence. In December 1971, after the deaths of millions of innocent victims in the civil war, a new country was declared: Bangla Desh, the Home of the Bengalis. Scenes from Early Life is the story of one upper-middle-class Bengali family, told in the form of a memoir, narrated by Zaved It is an autobiography, a novel and, in part, a history of one of the most ferocious of twentieth-century civil wars.

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