It is an excellent book both if you are a student of
philosophy and
want to consolidate your knowledge of various
philosophers
and if you
are a novice in
philosophy hoping to get acquainted with the field.
This book covers most of the great
philosophers with lucid details and
without losing the overall perspective. The philosophers covered in the
book are Socrates, Plato & Aristotle; Francis
Bacon, Spinoza, Voltaire, Immanuel Kant, Schopenhauer, Herbert Spencer
& Friedrich Nietzsche; Henry Bergson, Benedetto Croce &
Bertrand Russell; Santayana, William James & John Dewey.
Though the book mostly concentrates on the above mentioned
philosopher, it also tries to bring out other prominent thinkers in the
chronological order. It does not however cover Indian and Chinese
philosophy concentrating instead on Western Philosophy.
It contains massive quotations from the original works of the authors and is a must read for every voracious reader.