Herodotus

Herodotus

Almasy carries around a book with him at all times, the book is Herodotus’s Histories. Herodotus was a writer who lived from 484 BCE to about 430 or 420 BCE. He is considered the the father of history, for his depiction of stories in the past. Histories was a record of the ancient traditions, politics, geography and clashes of various cultures that were known in the Western Asia, Northern Africa and Greece. Hana describes Almasy’s 1890 edition of the book,
“She picks up the notebook that lies on the small table beside his bed. It is the book he brought with him through the fire— a copy of The Histories by Herodotus that he has added to, cutting and gluing in pages from other books or writing in his own observations— so they all are cradled within the text of Herodotus” (Ondaatje 222-223).
Almasy uses the book to collect scraps of information from other books, as well as to take notes and even collect flora samples. He also uses it for the history though, as Abu Baker describes
“Almasy and other explorers use literary legends and Herodotus’ Histories to explore reality. [...] The use of an ancient book of history in these explorations testifies to the strength of knowledge that outlives its own time. Herodotus’ book remains, according to Almasy, useful even in modern times not just for scholarly study but for colonial exploration and exploitation of the natural resources of other countries.” (Abu Baker 101-102)
Dr. Bermann claims in his lecture to the Geographical Society that he brought only Histories in their “travelling library”, the best guidebook for the Libyan Desert (Bermann 458).