Herodotus was already called in ancient times the “Father of History” and the “Father of Lies.” He knew the politician Pericles, the playwright Sophocles, the sculptor Phidias, and the philosopher Protagoras. A Greek who was a subject of the Persian state, a participant in a conspiracy against tyranny, a political emigrant, one of the founders of the colony, Herodotus traveled tirelessly for decades, collecting information for his “History.” He visited various parts of the then known world, from Egypt and Babylon to Italy and the northern coast of the Black Sea, and was the first to depict the historical process as a centuries-old conflict between East and West. The book by Doctor of Historical Sciences Igor Surikov is about the great ancient historian, his work and his time . Anyone who opens it will be immersed in the life of the ancient polis of the era of the Greco-Persian Wars, will hear the hubbub of its squares and markets, the clanking of weapons, the creaking of rowlocks and the whistle of the wind in the sails of triremes, the solemn speech of writers reading their works in the agora. Readers, together with the author, will take part in unraveling the intrigue: why did Herodotus receive a huge reward from the Athenian polis - 260 kilograms of silver?