Overview: A book for thinkers young and old, Befuddled is a journey back in time to explore the lives, legends and ideas of ancient philosophers.

Verdict: Theories on the origin of the universe, the nature of the mind, and much more are presented alongside bizarre stories of mad emperors and talking skulls here within the pages of Befuddled: The Lives & Legends of Ancient Philosophers.

Featuring an array of iconic figures, including Socrates, Pythagoras and the Buddha, Befuddled superbly illustrates how lives devoted to confusion and wonder not only give rise to fascinating ideas about reality, they also brim with wild moments and remarkable tales.

As for author David Birch, well, he stands by his statement that philosophy is for freaks and that the stories in this book prove it! I mean, what other conclusion can one reasonably draw when faced with tales of public urination, volcano jumping and bean phobia?

As for his quite wondrously told, highly informative, and delightfully entertaining philosophical concepts, complete with rousing anecdotes to bring it all to life, Birch freely admits that with his list of names included within the pages of this book having lived thousands of years ago, that it is not always possible to know what really happened.

For some of the stories may seem unbelievable and some are most certainly legends rather than facts. Nevertheless, though these stories may not always be true, they are always interesting. And that is the real point of this mesmerizing new prose, to present strange stories and curious ideas so that you may start your own extraordinary explorations, discover your own powers of thought, and experience for yourself the freaky thrills of befuddlement!

In closing, author David Birch invites you to add your own life to the collection, for along with questions and activities designed to start you on that very path, contained within the pages are a curiously-curated series of amusing and informative sketches of some great philosophers and thinkers; such as Pythagoras, Buddha, Socrates, Plato, and both Jesus and Diogenes.

About the Author - David G.W. Birch is a director of Consult Hyperion, an IT management consultancy that specializes in electronic transactions.

Described by The Telegraph as ‘one of the world’s leading experts on digital money’, by The Independent as a ‘grade-A geek’, by the Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation as ‘one of the most user-friendly of the UK’s uber-techies’ and by Financial World as ‘mad’, Dave is a member of the editorial board of the E-Finance & Payments Law and Policy Journal, a columnist for SPEED and well known for his blogs on digital money and digital identity.

He is a media commentator on electronic business issues (having appeared on BBC television and radio, Sky and other channels around the world) and has been named by WIRED magazine as one of their global top 15 favorite sources of business and finance information.

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