PRAISE FOR THE SHADOWS OF SOCRATES
"A brilliant investigation that reopens the case of Socrates with a bold, shocking, and terribly direct thesis."
— Giunti Editore
"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
"Although it is a very enjoyable read, this book is not, however, a historical novel. This is a very well-documented, perfectly structured, and clearly expository work that offers an original theory....The philosophical problem posed by Socrates ultimately points to an opposition between natural Light (of reason) versus supernatural Light (of beliefs), a problem of transcendental philosophical importance....Socrates confronted this problem, at the cost of his own life.
— José Ramón del Canto Nieto, Cuadernos de Filología Clásica
"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 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