A review by silvernfire
Classical Philosophy: A History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps, Volume 1 by Peter Adamson

5.0

I suppose you wouldn't even know this book existed unless you were the kind of person who hangs out in the philosophy section of the bookstore (which I do). And "the history of philosophy" may sound impressive to the point of being off-putting, and the book is from Oxford University Press, which adds to the whole why-would-you-read-this-unless-it-was-assigned-in-class feeling. Well, it's a lot more readable—and enjoyable—than that sounds. It's based on a series of podcasts, so it's written in a casual style, almost conversational. Each chapter is fairly short and self-contained, probably because of its podcast ancestry. But Adamson does an excellent job of linking each chapter to earlier ones so that you get the sense that this really is a continual, gap-less history.

Okay, minor quibble here: I would have liked a pronunciation guide for the unfamiliar Greek names that pepper this book. I'm not that familiar with this period in philosophic history beyond the big names of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, and a pronunciation guide—obviously not needed with the original podcasts!—and maybe a short list of the lesser-known philosophers would have been helpful. But overall, I'd highly recommend this as a readable introduction to early philosophy, at least for readers who'd be interested in philosophy in the first place.