“In the Histories, he describes the expansion of the Achaemenid empire under its kings Cyrus the Great, Cambyses and Darius the Great, culminating in king Xerxes' expedition in 480 BCE against the Greeks, which met with disaster in the naval engagement at Salamis and the battles at Plataea and Mycale. Herodotus' remarkable book also contains ethnographic descriptions of the peoples that the Persians have conquered, fairy tales, gossip, legends, and a very humanitarian morale.” [Quoted from here]
While much of what he wrote has been confirmed by archeological evidence and other sources; the truth of much of it is still in question. In any case; Herodotus is one of the most important sources of knowledge we have on that time period.
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