This book is a one volume introduction to Western intellectual history. Richard Tarnas (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Tarnas) takes us on a journey from the Greeks to postmodernism.
The contemporary world of postmodern thought, according to Tarnas, is caught “between the inner craving for a life of meaning and the relentless attrition of existence in a cosmos that our rational scientific world view has assured us is empty, dead, devoid of all purpose”. The author brilliantly traces how we got from there to here. The perfect enchiridion for those fascinated by ideas.
560 pages in Pimlico paperback edition.
ISBN 978-1845951627