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  • Published: 30 January 2013
  • ISBN: 9780143122210
  • Imprint: Penguin
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 224
  • RRP: $35.00

Socrates

A Man for Our Times



“Spectacular . . . A delight to read.”
The Wall Street Journal
 
From bestselling biographer and historian Paul Johnson, a brilliant portrait of Socrates, the founding father of philosophy

In his highly acclaimed style, historian Paul Johnson masterfully disentangles centuries of scarce sources to offer a riveting account of Socrates, who is often hailed as the most important thinker of all time. Johnson provides a compelling picture of Athens in the fifth century BCE, and of the people Socrates reciprocally delighted in, as well as many enlightening and intimate analyses of specific aspects of his personality. Enchantingly portraying "the sheer power of Socrates's mind, and its unique combination of steel, subtlety, and frivolity," Paul Johnson captures the vast and intriguing life of a man who did nothing less than supply the basic apparatus of the human mind.

“Spectacular . . . A delight to read.”
The Wall Street Journal
 
From bestselling biographer and historian Paul Johnson, a brilliant portrait of Socrates, the founding father of philosophy

In his highly acclaimed style, historian Paul Johnson masterfully disentangles centuries of scarce sources to offer a riveting account of Socrates, who is often hailed as the most important thinker of all time. Johnson provides a compelling picture of Athens in the fifth century BCE, and of the people Socrates reciprocally delighted in, as well as many enlightening and intimate analyses of specific aspects of his personality. Enchantingly portraying "the sheer power of Socrates's mind, and its unique combination of steel, subtlety, and frivolity," Paul Johnson captures the vast and intriguing life of a man who did nothing less than supply the basic apparatus of the human mind.

  • Published: 30 January 2013
  • ISBN: 9780143122210
  • Imprint: Penguin
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 224
  • RRP: $35.00

About the author

Paul Johnson

Paul Johnson is a journalist, historian, speechwriter and author. He came to prominence in the 50s writing for the New Statesman, where he was editor from 1965 - 1970. He then worked as a speechwriter for Margaret Thatcher (with whom he was at Oxford) and wrote a weekly column for the Spectator. He is married with two children and lives in London's Notting Hill Gate. He has written many books, including A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD,1983, A HISTORY OF THE JEWS, 1987, and HEROES, 2007.

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