The Way of Herodotus: Travels With the Man Who Invented History (Da Capo), by Justin Marozzi

Herodotus may be the father of history, but many contemporary historians have no use for him-especially those academic featherbedders who've never had an interesting thought or written a clear sentence. Justin Marozzi thumbs his nose at tenured mediocrities throughout his travelogue along the steps of history's first historian. A correspondent for the Financial Times and The Economist, Marozzi is always lucid and enjoyable, even on occasions when he fails to understand the context of people and places he encounters. He argues persuasively that Herodotus was not just a chronicler of what happened, but a seeker of why. He made a few errors (who hasn't?). But Marozzi shows that he was thousands of years ahead of contemporary academics in terms of multiculturalism and valuing the contributions of ordinary people, not just kings and generals.