Conversations with Socrates (Barnes & Noble Library of Essential Reading) »

Xenophon (444-ca 357 BCE) was an Athenian who was elected to the rank of general. When Athens looked to improve relations with Persia, he became a Spartan mercenary. His writing is lucid, informative, and surprisingly vibrant with between-the-lines meanings. In Conversations With Socrates, Xenophon operates more like a skilled attorney or a specialist one hires to clear one's reputation by means of a carefully coordinated media campaign.

Socrates (469-399 BCE) is the first person known to have lived a life fully devoted to thinking. Teeming with exchanges between the revered guru Socrates and various Athenians, Conversations with Socrates shows Socrates as engaging and sagacious. According to his follower Xenophon, Socrates communicates in ways that even the unphilosophical and harried reader will find impressive, memorable, and greatly useful.