Time for a Book Review - Travels With Herodotus

"We stand in darkness, surrounded by light..." is the title of the last chapter and it captures the essence of the book.  

Some time ago I bought the book, Herodotus, the Histories after having read, The English Patient.  To date I have not read the Herodotus book but having read this book I am ready.

The author starts out in his homeland of Poland and takes you around the world as he matures as a reporter/writer/traveler.  If you are interested in travel and/or history this will be a short journey into the time of Herodotus as seen through the eyes of modern man on his journey looking at the development of civilization.

Having read some history of Cyrus and Darius I was very interested to see another version of their lives.

Ryszard leads the reader through comparisons and shows the similarities of ancient times and now.  He invites you to watch as he personally evolves in his thinking as he leaves, for the first time ever, a communist country in the 60's to more recent times after he has absorbed Herodotus' tales and the changes in the world we live in.

I found this book winsome, captivating and totally absorbing.  It is yet another tale that I was sorry to see end.

"You must always know the past, for there is no real Was, there is only Is."
-Wm. Faulkner

And on the back of the book, a quote by The Washington Post, Book World.  "A work of art: so eloquent, so simple, that you find yourself marveling at its prose...a travel book that all students of writing and of literature ought to read."