Publisher, Blackstone Audiobooks (November 2006)

NOTE: Blackstone Audio LIBRARY EDITIONS come in durable, vinyl packaging with cover art created by Blackstone's award-winning art department. Inside the CD and MP3 CD packages, the CD sleeves are cloth. An index of contents and tracking information are included inside the MP3-CD format.

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“Well-written, clear, and informed, they have a breezy wit about them. I find them hard to stop reading.” —Richard Bernstein, New York Times

“Witty, illuminating, and blessedly concise.” —Jim Holt, Wall Street Journal

Just a century after it had begun, philosophy entered its greatest age with the appearance of Socrates, who spent so much of his time talking about philosophy on the streets of Athens that he never got around to writing anything down. His method of aggressive questioning, called dialectic, was used to cut through the twaddle of his adversaries and arrive at the truth. Socrates saw the world as not accessible to our senses, only to thought. Finally charged with impiety and the corruption of youth, he was tried and sentenced to death—and ended his life by drinking the judicial hemlock.

In Socrates in 90 minutes, Paul Strathern offers a concise, expert account of Socrates' life and ideas and explains their influence on man’s struggle to understand his existence in the world.

About the Author: PAUL STRATHERN earned a degree in philosophy at Trinity College, Dublin, and has lectured in philosophy and mathematics. A winner of the Somerset Maugham Prize, he has written books on history, philosophy, and travel as well as five novels. His articles have appeared in numerous publications, including the Observer (London) and the Irish Times. He lives and writes in London.