Herodotus in the Long Nineteenth Century

Explores the many different ways in which Herodotus' Histories were read and understood during a momentous period of world history.

Traces the impact of Herodotus' Histories in historical writing and an array of real-world contexts during a momentous period in world history. Engagement with Herodotus' work permeated nationalist discourses of the period, but this also helped shape the way both Herodotus and the ancient past have been understood and interpreted.Herodotus in the Long Nineteenth Century traces the impact of Herodotus' Histories during a momentous period in world history - an era of heightened social mobility, religious controversy, scientific discovery and colonial expansion. Contributions by an international team of specialists in Greek historiography, classical archaeology, receptions, and nineteenth-century intellectual history shed new light on how the Histories were read, remembered, and re-imagined in historical writing and in an exciting array of real-world contexts: from the classrooms of English public schools and universities to the music hall, museum, or gallery; from the news-stand to the nursery; and from the banks of the Nile to the mountains of the Hindu Kush. They reveal not only how engagement with Herodotus' work permeated nationalist discourses of the period, but also the extent to which these national and disciplinary contexts helped shape the way both Herodotus and the ancient past have been understood and interpreted.