This is a book within a book: the inner book explores the entirety of Western philosophy, while the outer book tells the story of a girl learning about philosophy.
It’s like a better version of A History of Western Philosophy by Bertrand Russell—well, kind of. More seriously, it covers most major figures in philosophy and gives a solid overview of what they believed. It’s just that: an overview.

Still, it’s a good book and holds some nostalgic value for me. I first read it when I was 14—it was my first real contact with philosophy. After that, I bought Plato’s Republic, didn’t really get it, and stopped engaging with the topic for a while.

But now, a bit older and hopefully a bit wiser, I really appreciate what the book does. It doesn’t just introduce philosophers—it places them in context and builds a whole narrative around what Western philosophy is really about.

What if you slept? And what if, in your sleep, you dreamed? And what if, in your dream, you went to heaven and there plucked a strange and beautiful flower? And what if, when you awoke, you had that flower in your hand? Ah, what then?

~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge