Paperback
Athens’ democracy killed its greatest thinker. Why?

The Death of Socrates

Hero, Villain, Chatterbox, Saint: From the New York Times bestselling author

$38.88

  • Paperback

    256 pages

  • Release Date

    1 October 2026

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Summary

Socrates is revered as a man who spoke truth to power. Yet his death in 399 BC was the first time in recorded history that a democratic government condemned a person to death for their beliefs. His death was a potent symbol of free speech, and Socrates’ fate has haunted Western thought ever since—a guiding influence on Plato, John Stuart Mill, Nietzsche, and Martin Luther King.

In this incisive survey of philosophy and politics, renowned classicist and translator Emily Wilson unravels…

Book Details

ISBN-13:9781806492633
ISBN-10:1806492636
Author:Emily Wilson
Publisher:Profile Books Ltd
Imprint:Profile Books Ltd
Format:Paperback
Number of Pages:256
Release Date:1 October 2026
Weight:221g
Dimensions:20mm x 128mm x 196mm
A-Format
The Death of Socrates by Emily Wilson - ISBN: 9781806492633
128 × 196 mm
B-Format
C-Format
A4
mm / in
What They're Saying

Critics Review

PRAISE FOR EMILY WILSON: ‘[Wilson] combines intellectual authority with addictive readability – Edith Hall * Telegraph *
Enthralling and profoundly relevant – Salman Rushdie
Joyful, illuminating and engrossing – Madeline Miller, author of THE SONG OF ACHILLIES
[Wilson] scrapes away at old encrusted layers, until she exposes what lies beneath – Nilanjana Roy * FT *
Emily Wilson unlocks the gates to ancient Greece and Rome – Peter Stothard, author of HORACE

About The Author

Emily Wilson

Emily Wilson is Professor of Classical Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. Her translations of the Odyssey and the Iliad were critically acclaimed across the globe, and she is a regular contributor to the London Review of Books, the New York Times, the New Statesman and the Nation.

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