If you want to understand the origins of Western thought, whether science, philosophy or theology, then you must start with the Presocratics. Something very remarkable happened in the Greek world 2,600 years ago; the emergence of speculative intellectual enquiry and reasoned argument. Catherine Osborne provides a readable and lively introduction to these pioneer thinkers. She starts with an account of a discovery of a fragment written by Empedocles, to give the reader an insight into how scholars investigate these early philosophers and the difficulties they face interpreting such scant evidence. Then she proceeds to specific, selected topics and thinkers. So it is not a conventional, chronological account, although she incidentally provides that along the way. To this end, the map, timeline and pronunciation guide at the beginning of the book are extremely useful. If you want a more conventional - and more thorough - introduction, then try Early Greek Philosophy, by J Barnes.



Osborne's tone is occasionally very didactic, and she will sometimes ask a question and leave the reader to think of an answer, so that it feels very much like being in class. Her account of the Sophists is rather partisan (she doesn't seem to like them very much) and the reader should take it as a point of view rather than the last word. But overall, this is a great book, with an informative text and well-chosen illustrations. For many readers, this short account will tell them all they want to know about the beginnings of the Western intellectual tradition. Your next step is Plato and Aristotle.

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