A Little History of Philosophy

“Survey the entire history of (western) philosophy through short intellectual biographies of 40 philosophers from Socrates to Peter Singer, in as broadly approachable a style as E. H. Gombrich’s A Little History of the World. A tall order; that Warburton (of the excellent podcast Philosophy Bites) has succeeded so well is a triumph.”—Steven Poole, The Guardian “Forty short chapters offer an informative, clear guide to forty major Western philosophers. Warburton’s casual, conversational style belies the erudition that has gone into his book.”—Katie Owen, Sunday Telegraph “This brisk primer is, for the neophyte, a good place to start immersing oneself in the history of Western thought.”—Publishers Weekly “This book is a little classic.”—Merryn Williams, Oxford Times “A tour of the major ideas and thinkers in the history of philosophy, nicely presented in 40 brief chapters.”—The Bookseller “Warburton packs a heck of a lot in to what is something of a Goldilocks volume: neither too much nor too little, the exegesis neither too thin or too thick and lumpy, his Little History can be consumed as a nourishing treat in its own right or provide the perfect fuel to kick-start anyone’s journey into philosophy.”—Julian Baggini, The Observer “The magic of Nigel Warburton’s book is its disarming accessibility. It closely follows the template of A Little History of the World—Ernst Gombrich’s 1935 introductory text for children, recently translated by Yale—and Warburton is the ideal shout for a writer to match Gombrich’s terse charm and easy authority. Anyone who’s enjoyed Warburton’s brilliant podcast series Philosophy Bites, where he and fellow demystifier David Edmonds half-nelson academics into spelling out their theories, will know he has a special gift for defusing complexity.”—Chris Brown, Time Out “Nigel Warburton takes the reader on a journey through the history of Western philosophy, in a highly accessible way. . . . Illuminating, informative and most of all enjoyable.”—Mary Lussiana, Country & Town House (Books of the Year) “This fascinating book makes a seemingly impenetrable subject accessible. . . . From the execution of Socrates to today’s animal rights movement, he examines some of the most compelling ideas put forward by some of the brilliant minds of humanity has known.”—Gavin Engelbrecht, Northern Echo (Christmas Books) “This is a thought-provoking and engaging introduction to philosophy, sweeping through over 2000 years of Western philosophical ideas. . . . The core ideas are clearly described with engaging anecdotal elaborations, both visual and written, which reveal to the reader the real people behind the concepts.”—Good Book Guide “A primer in human existence: philosophy has rarely seemed so lucid, so important, so worth doing and so easy to enter into. It’s refreshing to see the subject presented in terms of the history of ideas rather than of timeless concepts. A wonderful introduction for anyone who’s ever felt curious about almost anything.”—Sarah Bakewell, author of How To Live: A Life of Montaigne in One Question and Twenty Attempts at an Answer “A lively and eye-catching book, written in an easy style which should have splendid appeal for a young audience.”—Peter Cave, author of Can a Robot be Human?: 33 Perplexing Philosophy Puzzles