Books like The hemlock cup by Bettany Hughes

A vivid portrait of how Jean‑Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, and Raymond Aron reshaped 20th‑century philosophy, tracing the birth of existentialism in 1930s Montparnasse and its lasting influence on freedom, politics and culture.

This new edition of a well-known history of ancient Greece presents a modern interpretation of Greek ideas, culture, and history. Although the book's primary focus is on the political and military history of the Greek states, the prehistoric period and the intellectual, social, and economic backgrounds are also covered. N.G.L. Hammond's work thoroughly documents its ancent sources, and directs readers to further studies in the field. Updated and revised, the third edition adds new material on the significance of the spread of tumulus-burial in Albainia and the Mycenaean world, the dating of early coinage, the decree of Themistocles, and on aspects of the rule of Alexander the Great. Wide-ranging in scope, yet rich in detail, this work adds a modern perspective to the study of a fascinating ancient culture.

Killing Time: The Autobiography of Paul Feyerabend is an autobiography by philosopher Paul Feyerabend. The book details, amongst other things, Feyerabend’s youth in Nazi-controlled Vienna, his military service, notorious academic career, and his multiple romantic conquests. The book’s title, Killing Time is a play on the homophone Feierabend, a German compound noun meaning ‘the workday’s end and the evening following it’. Feyerabend barely managed to finish writing the book, lying in a hospital bed with an inoperable brain tumor and the left side of his body paralyzed, and he died shortly before it was released. Killing Time was first published in an Italian translation (by Alessandro de Lachenal) in 1994, with the English original as well as German (by Joachim Jung) and Spanish (by Fabián Chueca) translations following the year afterward. It is one of Feyerabend’s best-known works. (Source: Wikipedia)

This volume presents new translations of three dialogues Xenophon devoted to the life and thought of his teacher, Socrates. Each is accompanied by notes and an interpretive essay that will introduce new readers to Xenophon and foster further reflection in those familiar with his writing.

Clive James compiles over a hundred essays, arranged alphabetically, that examine the lives and ideas of twentieth‑century intellectuals, artists, musicians and philosophers, urging the preservation of Western humanism.