The historians of Ancient Greece were pioneers of a new literary craft, and their work stands among the world's most enduring and important legacies and the foundation of a major discipline. This highly readable edition includes key selections from Herodotus, Thucydides, Xenophon, and Plutarch, whose biographies drew on primary sources since lost to history. It collects their most popular, and most widely taught, work in a single, accessible volume. The stories included here chart the landmark events of Ancient Greece: the Persian War, Peloponnesian War, and the lives of Alexander the Great and Demetrius. Taken together, the Greek histories draw attention to each author's emphasis on religion, leadership, character, and the lessons to be drawn from war.