After reading Plato I found myself looking for any material on Socrates and stumbled on this recent release by Paul Johnson. Socrates lived during the best and worst times of Athenian splendor and hubris. Over all, this is a brilliant portrait of the Greek philosopher and of one of the greatest thinkers of all time. A stunning look at the life of a man who did nothing less than supply the basic apparatus of the human mind.

Recommended by Guy