<p>The product of eleven years of research <em>The Story of Philosophy </em>is an endlessly inspiring and instructive chronicle of the world’s greatest thinkers from Socrates to Santayana. Written with exacting and scrupulous scholarship it was designed both to command the respect of educators and to capture the interest of the layman.</p> <p>Durant lucidly describes the philosophical systems of such world-famous “monarchs of the mind” as Plato Aristotle Francis Bacon Spinoza Kant Voltaire and Nietzsche. Along with their ideas he offers their flesh-and-blood biographies placing their thoughts within their own time and place and elucidating their influence on our modern intellectual heritage. This book is packed with wisdom and wit.</p> <p><em>The Story of Philosophy</em> is a key book for any reader who wishes to survey the history and development of philosophical ideas in the Western world.</p>