Vain philosophy?

Jonathan Hill’s contribution to the ‘Lion Histories’ series is beguiling. The format is delightful. It appears at first sight to be just a little pocket-book with many captivating pictures, delightful ‘inserts’ which provide potted biographies or summaries of the main philosophies of the age, and frequent pivotal quotations in the margins, including a specially delicious one from Jonathan Swift satirising the scientists of the day.

Jonathan Fletcher