This is one of the weirder books I’ve read lately. Simon Critchley writes about 200 philosophers. He gives a brief description of their lives, but what he is really interested in is how they died. Take Seneca for an example. Critchley says Seneca was condemned to death by Caligula in AD 39, managed to escape, then was banished by Claudius on the charge of adultery with the emperor’s niece in AD 41. Finally, Seneca was forced to commit suicide by Nero in AD 65. While all this was going on, Seneca was the most important intellectual in the Roman world and one of its most powerful administrators. Critchley provides plenty of irony and wit as well as a wealth of detail on these philosophers. If you’re looking for a unique reading experience, try The Book of the Dead Philosophers. GRADE: A