During the early fifth century BC, a small and quarrelsome band of Greek city-states united to repel a mighty Persian army. While the story of this heroic drama forms the main theme of Herodotus' narrative, the author's curiosity fleshes out the text with dozens of digressions. He describes, for example, the monuments, crocodile hunters and natural wonders of Egypt, the warriors of the Sudan, the northern nomads and lake-dwellers of Europe. Endlessly entertaining, he recounts many superb stories and folk tales about amazing escapes, ambiguous prophecies, gold-digging ants and dog-headed men. And he conveys vividly the fragility of wealth and happiness, and the unexpected moral patterns in our lives.