W.K.C. Guthrie has written a survey of the great age of Greek
philosophy--from Thales to Aristotle--which combines comprehensiveness
with brevity. Without pre-supposing a knowledge of Greek or the
Classics, he sets out to explain the ideas of Plato and Aristotle in the
light of their predecessors rather than their successors, and to
describe the characteristic features of the Greek way of thinking and
outlook on the world. Thus The Greek Philosophers provides excellent
background material for the general reader--as well as providing a firm
basis for specialist studies.