Socrates
A Man for Our Times

Short and enjoyable intro or refresher to the life and thought of Socrates. Johnson is a good writer, and this goes down easy. Many reviewers are hard on Johnson. Maybe they think he should have written a different book, but I'm OK with the one he did write. I think it's OK for a historian to insert......more

When Paul Johnson writes biography, the intent is not simply to recount the facts of someone's life: it is didactic. Johnson is an historian who intends to teach a lesson with his writings, to show us what we should draw from the subject's life, works, and thoughts to better our own lives. Thus it is......more

This book answered a question I've had since reading The Republic in the 1990s. Is Socrates really speaking or is Plato speaking through Socrates. According to Johnson it varies from dialogue to dialogue. In The Republic it's Socrates voice in the first book and then Plato plays ventriloquist from t......more

Paul Johnson makes sound observations about what made Socrates different and groundbreaking: He was interested not in forms or logic but in people and what constitutes a virtuous life, the defining ingredient in his view of a happy life. He was a punster and a talker, the guy having meaningful conve......more

This book is a good summary of Socrates' work and the time and city in which he lived. Its huge advantage is that it discusses the person of Socrates in a historical, political and cultural context. I have always been attracted to the "warrior-philosopher" character. Actually, if I were to write any......more