Customer Reviews

Greek Thought: A Guide to Classical Knowledge (Harvard University Press Reference Library)

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Jacques Brunschwig's book is heavy reading. This is not to say that the writing is difficult to read but that the book contains so much information that it is physically heavy. At around 1024 pages, this book is an encyclopedia of essays about almost all aspects of Greek philosophy and history. This book was translated from French and it is great that the essays are now available to the english speaking reader. The book is divied into sections such as The Pursuit of Knowledge, Major Figures, and Currents of Thought. This is useful because since it would be nearly impossible to read the book from cover to cover, it allows the reader to find sections that interest them. I read one essay every night. In a little over a month I had a better understanding of Greek philosophy than ever before. The Currents of Thought section is very interesting because it discusses the various philosophies that appeared throughout Greek history. The book not only contains great essays, but beautiful color photographs and pictures as well. This book is a good introduction to Greek philosophy or a reference on the subject. It is an excellent value for the amount of information it contains.

Me as a great lover of Ancient Greek culture & history, I really liked reading this book. When I took it from the shelf in a bookstore in Amsterdam I was with my classmate, when he saw what I had in my hands, the first thing he said was "I guess you just founded your dreambook" And my dreambook it surely was.

On first hand I though that the book would be about the Greek philosophy, but that was a very misplaces thought. In fact the book is so much more wider of scale. It will take everything into the research and tries to explain the Greek thinking not only from of a philopsopcal side (although there is a bog part on that to) but more from of the general idea thoughts. It will tell you what Greek thought about a huge scale of things and topics.

So when you want to get into the mind of an Ancient Greek, and who doesn't !!! (remember that was The reason for Socrates to die, since he was looing forward to meet Hesiod & Homer) Then surely this is your book.

So be a good person and take Machiavelli's advise that a firm knowlegde of our (and then I speak of us Europeans) own Classical inheritage is absolutely crucial in life for true and read this book.