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The Way of Herodotus: Travels with the Man Who Invented History
by Justin Marozzi
Reviewed by Peter Gordon
A good case can be made for including a book about this particular long-dead Greek in The Asian Review of Books. Herodotus, in the words of Justin Marozzi, not only "invented history" but also "invented the West" and thus, by extension, defined forever "Asia", at least in the minds of those countries and societies that look upon the ancient Greeks as their cultural and intellectual ancestors, as something different, and often menacing, to the east.
This is somewhat disturbing thought is a long way from Marozzi's purpose, which (if not just to travel around the Mediterranean with The Histories rather than a Lonely Planet as a guidebook) is to celebrate Herodotus's skill as a storyteller and to rehabilitate Herodotus as a historian (with a long sidebar about whether history should just be about political developments or, as Herodotus's was, more inclusive and -- in a word -- popular than that: Marozzi approves of Herodotus's interest in what would now be called "human interest stories").
All these heavy considerations aside, The Way of Herodotus: Travels with the Man Who Invented History is a book for those who like to learn something without having to work too hard, and for those who have a fondness for travel writing they'd perhaps prefer not to disclose: Marozzi is something of a storyteller himself and the formal title and largely brown-paper dust jacket hides, among other things, accounts of a perilous descent into Baghdad airport, a church exorcism, homosexuality in the Egyptian oasis town of Siwa and a foam-filled Turkish disco.
Marozzi writes with real affection for his subject, brings to life the many characters he meets along the way, uncovers a number of lesser-known corners of the ancient world and has the ability to mix the erudite with the profane, not unlike, perhaps, Herodotus himself.
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Peter Gordon is editor of The Asian Review of Books.
by Justin Marozzi
Reviewed by Peter Gordon
A good case can be made for including a book about this particular long-dead Greek in The Asian Review of Books. Herodotus, in the words of Justin Marozzi, not only "invented history" but also "invented the West" and thus, by extension, defined forever "Asia", at least in the minds of those countries and societies that look upon the ancient Greeks as their cultural and intellectual ancestors, as something different, and often menacing, to the east.
- If you want to put a finger on it and say, that's when the West was born, you could make a decent case for 490BC. Battle of Marathon… And the Greek historian Herodotus, born around 490 himself, was its retrospective literary midwife.
- The fractious Greek mainland and archipelago had united to repel a far more powerful enemy. Invaders from the east had met defenders in the west and the encounter proved decisive. So decisive, in fact, that east became East and west became West. It was Herodotus, in his unrivaled account of the Persian Wars, who supplied the capital letters.
This is somewhat disturbing thought is a long way from Marozzi's purpose, which (if not just to travel around the Mediterranean with The Histories rather than a Lonely Planet as a guidebook) is to celebrate Herodotus's skill as a storyteller and to rehabilitate Herodotus as a historian (with a long sidebar about whether history should just be about political developments or, as Herodotus's was, more inclusive and -- in a word -- popular than that: Marozzi approves of Herodotus's interest in what would now be called "human interest stories").
All these heavy considerations aside, The Way of Herodotus: Travels with the Man Who Invented History is a book for those who like to learn something without having to work too hard, and for those who have a fondness for travel writing they'd perhaps prefer not to disclose: Marozzi is something of a storyteller himself and the formal title and largely brown-paper dust jacket hides, among other things, accounts of a perilous descent into Baghdad airport, a church exorcism, homosexuality in the Egyptian oasis town of Siwa and a foam-filled Turkish disco.
Marozzi writes with real affection for his subject, brings to life the many characters he meets along the way, uncovers a number of lesser-known corners of the ancient world and has the ability to mix the erudite with the profane, not unlike, perhaps, Herodotus himself.
--
Peter Gordon is editor of The Asian Review of Books.
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