The Squashed Philosophers

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Derwent Press, 2005 - Philosophy - 436 pages
Life, unfortunately, is rather short, the little storeroom of the brain doesn't have extensible walls and the greatest of thinkers seem to be among the dullest, and the lengthiest, of writers. Which is a pity, because your Prince, whether they call themselves President or King or Prime Minister, has almost certainly read Machiavelli. Your therapist is steeped in Freud, your divines in Augustine. Lawmakers take their cues still from Paine, Rousseau and Hobbes. Science looks yet to Bacon, Copernicus and Darwin. So, here are the few most used, most quoted, the most given, sources of the West. The books that have defined the way the West thinks now, in their author's own words, but condensed and abridged into something readable. And there's more. By compressing these books to a tenth or so of their original size it becomes possible to read the whole thing as a single narrative, as the story of Western Thought, the story of how we got where we are now. The last chapter is waiting to be written.

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OF MARCUS AURELIUS
58
CHAPTER I WHAT IS WAR?
274
CHAPTER II END AND MEANS IN WAR
276
CHAPTER IV OF DANGER IN WAR
278
CHAPTER I BRANCHES OF THE ART OF WAR
279
CHAPTER III ART OR SCIENCE OF WAR
280
CHAPTER V CRITICAL ANALYSIS
281
CHAPTER II ELEMENTS OF STRATEGY
282
CHAPTER VII PERSEVERANCE
283
CHAPTER XI ASSEMBLY OF FORCES IN SPACE
284
CHAPTER XVII ON THE CHARACTER OF MODERN WAR
285
CHAPTER III THE COMBAT IN GENERAL
286
CHAPTER VII DECISION OF THE COMBAT
287
CHAPTER XII STRATEGIC MEANS OF UTILISING VICTORY
288
CHAPTER XIII RETREAT AFTER A LOST BATTLE
289
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