Honestly, I read Socrates by Paul Johnson not because I wanted to but because I felt like I should. My interest has drifted to the topics of Psychology and Philosophy as of late and I felt I couldn’t skip over learning at least something about somebody that one could consider the father of Philosophy. Paul Johnson has written a lot of historical books – 22 of them. I figured I was in good hands.
In trying to save your time and money here though, I’d say read through the Wikipedia page for Socrates and you’re 90% done. There are interesting parts of the book, like the subject of his ugliness; his comments on his wife; how his beliefs on religion and revenge were the polar opposites of Greeks at the time and especially the accounts of Socrates’ final days, most of which you won’t find on Wikipedia. Johnson also has a blatant distaste for Plato, who was one of Socrates’ keenest followers and where many accounts on Socrates originate, although there’s no evidence where this attitude comes from. I could only assume that he cut in front of him at the theatre in a past life.
If you’re a fan of Ancient History or the Greeks, this will get your rocks off. I was hoping to get some worldly insights of Socrates’ mind whilst reading that never came. This in part is no fault of Johnson – Socrates never wrote anything, and many accounts of him were lost to history – which they explain several times.
If I had to rate it out of 647, I’d give it a solid 327.5. If you’re covering socrates for a school paper then Wikipedia will be enough for you and you can spend the rest of your time elsewhere. If you’re interested in gaining a deeper insight into a man who was both respected and similarly controversial back in Ancient Greece or if you have a taste for Philosophy then this should be on your hit list.
With that said, if I haven’t put you off you can pick it up from Amazon from here.
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