本书插图丰富，内容充满迷人的信息，对古希腊文化进行了全新的诠释，涵盖了古希腊社会生活的方方面面。为使普通读者理解“光荣属于希腊”的含义，作者考察了环境和经济的影响，城邦之间紧张关系所造成的结果，性别的含义，探析了工人、士兵、奴隶、农民、妇女的生活经历以及神话与宗教、艺术与文化、科学与教育的作用。本书是一部文化史，它展现了古希腊在语言、文学、艺术和政治方面留给我们的意义深远的遗产，探究了雪莱宣称的“我们都是希腊人”的理由。

"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.