Plato unmasked : the Dialogues made new

Entirely new, vastly readable, and shockingly less polite than the standard versions, Keith Quincy's new translation of Plato's dialogues makes these texts truly accessible and restores to them some of their original power to provoke and inspire. Presented in chronological order, rather than the usual thematic groups, Quincy's dialogues present a sense of the evolution of Plato's thought, making him more clearly a subject than he appears to be in other collections.

Each dialogue is preceded by an introduction linking it to historical characters and events, and providing biographical sketches of the principals and their relationship to Socrates and Plato.

The resulting picture is not always flattering; some of the revelations challenge the prevailing view of Socrates as an almost saintly figure, and of Plato as his devotedly brilliant disciple.

But there is good evidence for Quincy's view, and it gives a new and enlivening slant to these treasured texts.

Keith Quincy is chairman of the Department of Government at Eastern Washington University, where he teaches political science and philosophy.

He is the author of five books, including "Hmong: History of a People".