This book covers one of the defining periods of European history. The series of wars between the Greeks and the Persian Empire produced the famous battles of Marathon, Thermopylae, and Salamis, as well as an ill-fated attempt to overthrow the Persian king in 400 BC, which helped to inspire the conquests of Alexander the Great. To tell the story of these momentous events--of the lives of great men and women, the societies and cultures that produced them, and how and why they came into conflict--was the aim of Herodotus. Known as the "Father of History, " Herodotus' account of the wars is the first book to be called a history, and is the principal source for this concise and accessible volume.