Stories from Herodotus

Herodotus wrote the first history book in the world. That is why he is sometimes called the 'Father of History'. He lived about 2,500 years ago in the fifth century BC. He was born at a place called Halicarnassus in Asia Minor. The modern names for these places are Bodrum in Turkey. Herodotus was a keen traveller who went all over the ancient world and was interested in everything he saw and heard. When he came back from his travels he went to Athens in Greece and gave lectures about the places he had visited. Finally he decided to write a book about them. In the later part of his life he went to Italy where he did more work on his book and finally died there in 425 BC. King Leonidas of Sparta and the Battle of Thermopylae, made famous by the blockbuster movie 300, began with Herodotus' stories. Retold to be accessible for children, these stories will delight readers of all ages. This book is appropriate to support the curriculum of Key Stage 3.