Herodotus

Herodotus of Halikarnassus (Halicarnassus); (484?-425? BCE) The first historian.

His book, Histories, was the first attempt at documenting historical events in the context of eye-witnesses and second-hand accounts; he is often called the Father of History.

Histories is an important work because it gives us a glimpse into the world-view of an educated and well traveled man in the fifth century BCE; Histories consists of nine books and recounts the Persian invasion of Greece and countless other historical and genealogical facts; some of his observations are priceless glimpses into the daily lives of the ancient Greeks but some of his accounts are laughably inaccurate.

All in all, this book is very important because it is the first attempt at a chronological history of world events; this book can be found at most libraries or can be purchased through the Book Shop on this site which is linked to Amazon.com; I recommend The Histories as translated by David Grene, ISBN 0226327728 (paperback) or the Penguin Classics version revised by A. R. Burn, ISBN 0140440348.