A History of Philosophy: The Condensed Copleston

Frederick Copleston completed his nine volume A History of Philosophy before his death in 1994, to which several volumes – on subjects such as Russian Philosophy, Logical Positivism and Existentialism – were later added. This magisterial project was and continues to be universally recognized as a standard work. As a reviewer wrote at the time of publication: 'Immensely erudite, lucid in analysis and almost incredibly dispassionate'.

It was Copleston's ambition to condense this huge work into one volume to rival Bertrand Russell's A History of Western Philosophy. Copleston was often a sparring partner of Russell and A. J. Ayer, most notably in two debates on the BBC in which it was generally agreed that Copleston won hands down. Anthony Carroll, the editor of this one-volume work, knew Copleston and is himself a lecturer in philosophy fully immersed in the Copleston tradition of philosophical enquiry. With the publication of this one volume work, also containing texts posthumously added to the series, more and more people will be led back to Copleston's monumental history of philosophy.