The Greek Accounts of Eastern History

Description

"Professor Drews has written a truly remarkable book. He presents nothing less than an entirely new thesis regarding both the genesis of Greek historiography and the nature of the Histories of Herodotus. Into a field long dominated by the great figures of Germanic scholarship, Eduard Schwartz, Felix Jacoby and Kurt von Fritz, Drews has come forth with the courage to look at things anew and to decide that the closely reasoned Entwicklungstheorien of his predecessors are fundamentally wrong. To state things baldly, Drews has decided to take Herodotus at his word. Instead of going to elaborate lengths to prove that Herodotus does not mean what he says, Drews reasons that Herodotus meant to do exactly what he says he is going to do. This elementary change in attitude has produced a radically different approach to Herodotus and to the origins of Greek historiography." J. D. Muhly (Journal of Near Eastern Studies, 35:1, Jan 1976, p. 41)