Matt Gatton

Author

Announcing the forthcoming publication of—

The Shadows of Socrates

The Heresy, War, and Treachery behind the Trial of Socrates

Release date February 6, 2024. Pre-orders open now.

The trial and execution of Socrates is in some ways the most famous unsolved murder mystery in history, because the prosecution's case was not recorded. The Shadows of Socrates solves the mystery, revealing for the first time how he was set up, who did it, and why. This is a real-life whodunit, a thriller intertwined with a long-running war, rivalry, sex addiction, betrayal, sedition, starvation, epic bravery, and pure intellectual clarity.

At age 70, Socrates was charged with impiety (lack of reverence for the gods) and leading the youth astray. The key to understanding the first part of the charges is the powerful religious rituals at the heart of Athenian culture, the hallowed Mysteries of Eleusis. (Trying to explain what happened to Socrates without discussing the Mysteries is like trying to explain what happened to Galileo without mentioning the Catholic Church.)

To explain the second part of the charges, Gatton delves into Socrates' impact on two important youths in particular: the aristocratic and psychopathic Alcibiades, and the rich and equally manipulative Callias. They were 'half' brothers—and mortal enemies. Alcibiades studied under Socrates and grew up to become an Athenian General, the embodiment of the Peloponnesian War, and Callias an official of the Mysteries of Eleusis, the personification of religion. Callias sentenced Alcibiades to death for sacrilege, but Alcibiades outfoxed Callias by taking down Athenian democracy with an outrageous lie, which set off a civil war.

Ultimately, there was a battle, fought on many fronts, between Alcibiades and Callias for control of Athens. Their feud contributed, in no small way, to the eventual fall of Athens…and the death of Socrates.

Strap in; this is a wild ride.

PRAISE FOR THE SHADOWS OF SOCRATES

"A thrilling and important epiphany of a book. Like Socrates himself—the stubborn philosophical hero of this reexamination of the most famous trial of all time—Matt Gatton leads us out of the confusing shadows of historical misperception into the blinding light of reasoned analysis and understanding. In Gatton's skillful hands, the vexed trial of Socrates becomes not only an intelligible political and legal event but itself a powerful indictment of religious control and power over the human mind."

— Rep. Jamie Raskin, New York Times bestselling author of Unthinkable: Trauma, Truth and the Trials of American Democracy.

"In this dazzling work of resourceful sleuthing, Matt Gatton just may have invented an entirely new genre: The philosophical thriller. The Shadows of Socrates transports us back to a pivotal moment from classical times, but it's a tale that feels strangely, hauntingly current, with familiar clashes of titanic egos and sly intrigues that might easily unfold in Washington or Moscow today."

— Hampton Sides, New York Times bestselling author of Blood and Thunder, Hellhound on His Trail, and On Desperate Ground

"In Socrates' Athens, a fragile democracy addicted to imperialist adventures and idol-worship, pondering the concepts of Truth and Justice out loud could easily become a capital offense. Matt Gatton guides us down the twisted path that led to the philosopher's trial and forced suicide, resurrecting a pair of villains who'd be comfortable in today's political scene."

— John Sayles, novelist, director, screenwriter, MacArthur Fellow, two-time Academy Award nominee for best original screenplay.

"I tore through The Shadows of Socrates in three sittings. An absolutely fantastic read—an amazing human story about the life, times, trial, and execution of Socrates. There is much in this story that is new, including striking discoveries about the Mysteries of Eleusis and how that enigmatic ritual connects to Socrates's Allegory of the Cave and his execution. This is history writing at its best—fascinating, vivid, and shocking. I would easily put The Shadows of Socrates on the same level as the books of Barbara Tuchman or Stacy Schiff's Cleopatra. I highly recommend it."

— Douglas Preston, #1 New York Times bestselling author

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