In unraveling the long-hidden issues of the most famous free speech case of all time, noted author I.F. Stone ranges far and wide over Roman as wel...
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Jul 06, 2010
Bruce
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I read this (well, began reading it and then skimmed through the remainder, really) all in one night. Not because it's that interesting or well-written, but because I was already thoroughly familiarized with its contents. If you read Doug Linder's webpage, ahead of time, there won't be much in Stone's book to hold your interest. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that Linder's synopsis is far better, in that it covers the same ground that much more succinctly.
Stone promises to treat h More...
Stone promises to treat h More...
Apr 03, 2010
Erik
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My first exposure to I.F. Stone was in high school when I stumbled upon his Hidden History of the Korean War in the library. The contents were quite upsetting as they contradicted most of what I'd thought I'd known about the event. My second exposure to Stone was at Grinnell College when I saw a documentary about him and his Weekly in the Alumni Recitation Hall. Before that I'd not given much thought to him as a person. Indeed, although I'd seen him cited often enough by others, it hadn't pa
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Feb 18, 2010
John
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Izzy Does the Ancients: The greatest US journalist of the 20th century -- or probably ever -- had to stop publication of "I. F. Stone's Weekly" due to health reasons, but then he spent his 70s learning ancient Greek and returning to the Classical studies of his youth, and the result was this book.
Here, "Western Civilization's" favorite plaster (marble?) saint -- bigger than Jesus long before the Beatles were -- gets his long-overdue demolition. Stone can't justify More...
Here, "Western Civilization's" favorite plaster (marble?) saint -- bigger than Jesus long before the Beatles were -- gets his long-overdue demolition. Stone can't justify More...
Jan 11, 2010
Mark
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This work was incredible. I enjoyed it from start to finish. Many of us read Plato's Trial of Socrates in High School and were taught to regard Socrates as a kind of martyred vanguard who was wrongfully accused, tried, and ultimately murdered by Athenian Democracy. Teachers in particular typically view Socrates with rose colored glasses. However, after reading (on my own) most of Plato including his Republic, I couldn't mirror Socrates the man with the Socrates as he was lovingly depicted in my
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Sep 29, 2009
Jim
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So you think that Socrates is deservedly one of civilization’s culture heroes for his pioneering use of the dialectic method in philosophy and for being a martyr for philosophic inquiry when he ran afoul of the Athens city fathers, who sentenced him to death by swallowing hemlock? I.F. Stone doesn’t think so, and in this book he lays out evidence to explain why the democratic government of Athens tried and executed him. Stone may not excuse the decision to execute Socrates but he makes a case fo
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Apr 18, 2009
I read the complete works of Plato some years ago because so much of Western philosophy concerns itself with answering the questions that Socrates--Plato's teacher and the object of Plato's recordation--opened up to debate so long ago. Stone's book explores the political, cultural, and intellectual context in which the dialogues of Socrates took place, making the dialogues more understandable. It goes on to discuss what we know of Socrates' life and the second most famous execution (the fi
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Aug 10, 2009
Jack
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This is an example of why i love used bookstores. Zero chance I would have risked this new, but, hey, for $1.98, it seemed reasonable.
And it was. It reminded me of just how much I've forgotten about classical history -- inconceivable amounts. (I was really good at the Peloponnesian Wars in 9th grade.) The real use of the book is it does a wonderful job of telling a story of what life was like in ancient Greece. He argues the reason so many ideas are traced back to the Greeks is More...
And it was. It reminded me of just how much I've forgotten about classical history -- inconceivable amounts. (I was really good at the Peloponnesian Wars in 9th grade.) The real use of the book is it does a wonderful job of telling a story of what life was like in ancient Greece. He argues the reason so many ideas are traced back to the Greeks is More...
Feb 05, 2012
Brianna
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I was really looking for a historian's rendering of the events of the trial, but what I found was I.F. Stone's opinionated work on the reasons behind the trial and the judgment.
Stone starts out telling us that the book is a product of himself trying to reconcile Athens' love of free speech and thought with their "execution" of Socrates. His answer to this is to try and recreate the prosecution, and show that Socrates was actually guilty of something like treason. He tel More...
Stone starts out telling us that the book is a product of himself trying to reconcile Athens' love of free speech and thought with their "execution" of Socrates. His answer to this is to try and recreate the prosecution, and show that Socrates was actually guilty of something like treason. He tel More...
Jul 02, 2009
Chris
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I haven't read a book that has made me more angry in a very long time, perhaps ever. Part of this was due to the surprise that I felt at the tone of the book. I was expected a scholarly book, but what I got was an ad hominem attack on a figure, Socrates, that had enjoyed a very favorable standing in my imagination due solely to his portrayal in Plato's dialogues.
I don't use the term ad hominem lightly. I do believe that Stone's book rests completely on the false assumption that democ More...
I don't use the term ad hominem lightly. I do believe that Stone's book rests completely on the false assumption that democ More...
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Jul 19, 2010
Mike
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Most of us probably read at least excerpts from The Republic and The Trial and Death of Socrates (composed of the short dialogues Crito, Phaedo, Apology, and Euthyphro at some point in college. Socrates as represented by his pupil Plato is considered one of the greatest philosophers of all time; and in some degree, he is considered to be the break-point between Pre-Socratic or Eleatic philosophic and the philosophy of the classical age.
But what the astute reader of Plato's dialogues More...
But what the astute reader of Plato's dialogues More...
Nov 09, 2010
David
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I learned a lot about Socrates and his student Plato. I learned a lot of cool new Greek words like thorubus, the sound that a crowd makes while milling around. Being Socratic for me means starting from the evidence and working towards a solution. But there is a lot more to Socrates that the trial exposes, most of it not very attractive and the book takes some of the shine off of him. Socrates was an enemy of democracy because he believed that only the most knowledgeable should rule. When you get
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Jul 26, 2011
Sunny
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An interesting book that covers not only the trial itself of socrates but what years building up to it and why Socrates was put to death in the manner in which he was. The book is essentially a debate between the anti-democratic/spartan/oligarchic views that socrates purported to and Athens which represented democracy itself. It talks a great deal of the socratic dialogues which Plato made famous and teh role of socreates in them and how that may have begun to sway vast sways of Athenian youth a
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Jan 02, 2009
Jacob
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If there was one redeeming factor about The Plot to Save Socrates by Paul Levinson, it was the small discussion of this book by I.F. Stone among the characters. I was eager to get the memory of bad literature off my brain, so I figured I would give The Trial of Socrates a try, if only to receive some further education on the subject.
I.F. Stone provides a fascinating (if a bit dry) investigation into the trial and death of the philosopher Socrates by examining the dialogues and other More...
I.F. Stone provides a fascinating (if a bit dry) investigation into the trial and death of the philosopher Socrates by examining the dialogues and other More...
Jan 27, 2008
David
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Veteran "muckraker" Stone, who helped bring an end to McCarthyism, comes out of retirement to break a 2,000-year old scoop, his last book:
Socrates was no defender of democracy/free speech, as most think. Just the opposite: he thought democracy's common man-based government was disastrous--something like having a bunch of cattle performing brain surgery.
The truth is that he was put on trial because his aristocratic students (Alcibiades, Creon et al.) twi More...
Jan 17, 2008
Ray
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I.F. Stone spent his journalistic career glorying in being an antagonist -- an anti-Zionist Jew, a Marxist, a relentless muckraker. Here he portrays Socrates as even more obnoxious than himself.
As some of the reviews reflect, Greek historians will find plenty of faults in Stone's account. But for the discerning reader he tells a great story. Socrates comes off as a rightwing reactionary (!!!) and an intellectual bully and elitist. Kind of how Stone must have viewed William F. Buckle More...
As some of the reviews reflect, Greek historians will find plenty of faults in Stone's account. But for the discerning reader he tells a great story. Socrates comes off as a rightwing reactionary (!!!) and an intellectual bully and elitist. Kind of how Stone must have viewed William F. Buckle More...
Jan 13, 2010
Seán
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I was reading this on Steinway Street one night, while waiting for the Liz Most, when a ponytailed Lothario with a South American accent accosted me outside the Duane Reade.
"Hallo. HALLO! Can you please say the title of the book?" He indicated Stone's text in my hands, which is really quite good and should be read by anyone who thinks Socrates was an oligarchy-loving windbag. I lifted the book into his field of view.
"That is the best translation!"
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"Hallo. HALLO! Can you please say the title of the book?" He indicated Stone's text in my hands, which is really quite good and should be read by anyone who thinks Socrates was an oligarchy-loving windbag. I lifted the book into his field of view.
"That is the best translation!"
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Aug 26, 2011
Mike
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This is a rare rewrite of a review I previously wrote. It is a good and thoughtful book. A serious portrayal of the the intellectual elite of the time. It defines the role of man as relates to societal interaction. It laments the fact that the execution of Socrates was unnecessary and not justified by the standards of his days. He met his faith due more to his mocking the 500 man jury of his peers.
The book does remind me of college days, but I find it more readable today............... More...
The book does remind me of college days, but I find it more readable today............... More...
Nov 30, 2008
Rogier
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Predictably, I.F. Stone looks at Socrates in the context of politics, and I feel he explores many interesting and unusual angles, but he still misses the point of Socrates, who in the end was about going within to the source, to the unchanging truth within. This notion is alien to Stone, who is a master at seeing and documenting the problems outside, but clearly a complete stranger to looking for the truth, if not the solutions within. Consequently for all the very perceptive explorations in thi
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Jul 15, 2011
Daniel
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Fascinating look at the trial of Socrates, and what may have actually been his intentions, as well as the culture surrounding his life & prosecution. I loved this book.
Jan 18, 2010
Guy
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The contemporary myth of Socrates is nicely challenged in the fascinating book. Highly recommended because it humanizes Socrates and makes him even more relevant.
May 03, 2009
Christan
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Informative and interesting study of Greek philosophical thought, especially as pertains to Socrates and Plato. I.F. Stone is himself a fearless seeker of the truth.
Jan 18, 2010
Sidney
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Put my review on my blog and don't feel like writing more now - I enjoyed it though.
Sep 01, 2011
Weikang
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A fantastic, fantastic book. Extremely well written. Full of original ideas and investigations. The books wonderfully blends history, philosophy, and literature when the author tries to investigate the most famous trial in antiquity. It is witty to the extent of sarcastic where the author does not disguise his contempt for the Socratic school. I would like Stone to discuss, even briefly, the merits, if any, of Plato's attack on democracy, even though this is not a book on political science.
Jul 26, 2007
Kevin
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Written by a journalist who taught himself Greek, it epitomizes the journalistic ability to present intellectual concepts in a manner that is entertaining and accessible to all readers. While examining Socrates' trial, the impact of which is second only to that of Jesus, the reader will enjoy servings of history and linguistics with a side of religious studies and a healthy portion of philosophy for dessert.
Oct 07, 2007
this book tells us that not only was socrates kind of a dick, but that he was, in a significant way, kind of a really bad person, genius aside (or, perhaps, not). i agree with this premise, and both the author and i love socrates. so, go figure that out. i haven't finished the book (it's been sitting around for about six months) because that depresses me. it does make y'think, though.
Dec 17, 2009
Michael
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A pretty good read about our friend So-crates. Mr. Stone does not have a lot of particularly nice things to say about Socrates and Plato, but his position is intriguing in that he outlines a highly plausible scenario by which the former was justifiably executed by Athens.
("justifiably" is a bit too harsh, but the best word that my tiny brain could come up with)
-m
("justifiably" is a bit too harsh, but the best word that my tiny brain could come up with)
-m
Nov 19, 2008
Scott
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The writing is quite accessible. It's a well told story. Not everyone will agree with Stone's assertions, but he makes a valiant effort at showing an alternative side to Socrates.
Jan 14, 2008
Adam
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Once Socrates got busted for stealing some lotto tickets. This is that story.
Dec 17, 2009
Jon
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Disabused me of my unqualified admiration of Socrates by showing his reactionary side.
