I picked up this book the other day because I was enjoying Kreeft’s Socrates Meets Descartes, and this appeared to be in the same vein. In fact, it is, and it isn’t. It’s written at a similar level and for a similar audience, but the style is entirely different.

Whereas Socrates Meets Descartes is a dialog written by Kreeft and involving Socrates, this present book is a commentary on Plato’s Apology. Socrates offended a lot of people, and was brought up on charges of atheism, among other things; the Apology describes his defense, and his condemnation to death. Kreeft also provides selections from Plato’s Euthyphro, to show why Socrates was on trial, and from the Phaedo, to show how Socrates died, with additional commentary on both.

As a commentary, it’s both enlightening and entertaining, and Kreeft’s love of both the topic and of philosophizing in general is infectious. I enjoyed it, and recommend it. However, I have one minor quibble with the cover blurb, which makes it appear that the book stands alone. It really does not; although Kreeft quotes liberally from the Apology, I found that I really needed to dig up a copy of the Apology and read it straight through before going on with Kreeft’s commentary. That’s the right thing to do, anyway, but the blurb should have made it clear that this is a companion to Plato, and does not contain the complete text.

Incidentally, Kreeft uses W.H.D. Rouse’s translation of the Apology; I found the complete text, using the same translation, in Great Dialogs of Plato, published by Signet Classics.