Hayward Morse

This edition includes a modern introduction and a list of suggested further reading. Francis Bacon once wrote, "Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested... " This is a book to be chewed and digested, and these essays make as satisfying a meal today as when the first edition was published in 1597. Indeed, the present-day reader is amply rewarded for the effort of taking in the old-fashioned English...

The Enchiridion is the famous manual of ethical advice given in the second century by the Stoic philosopher Epictetus. Born to a Greek slave, Epictetus grew up in the environment of the Roman Empire and, having been released from bonds of slavery, became a Stoic in the tradition of its originators, Zeno (third Century BCE) and Seneca (first century CE). Epictetus didn't leave a formal written legacy, but his pupil, Arrian, collected his teachings,...

The Laws is the longest of Plato's Dialogues and actually doesn't feature Socrates at all - the principal figure taking the lead is the 'Athenian Stranger' who engages two older men in the discussion, Cleinias (from Crete) and Megillus (from Sparta). The Dialogue is set in Crete, and the three men embark on a pilgrimage from Knossus to the cave of Dicte, where, legend reports, Zeus was born. The topic under examination is the making of laws appropriate...

American balloonist Lee Scoresby and armored bear Iorek Byrnison meet when Lee and his hare daemon crash-land their trading balloon onto a port in the far Arctic North and find themselves in the middle of a political powder keg.