Peter Adamson introduces us to two of the world's greatest intellectual traditions: Byzantium and the Italian Renaissance. First, he tells the story of philosophy in the Eastern Christian world, from such early figures as John of Damascus in the eighth century to the late Byzantine scholars of the fifteenth century. Then he explores the rebirth of philosophy in Italy in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, the era of Machiavelli. Giordano Bruno, and Galileo. Adamson offers a fascinating introduction to not just the major thinkers and philosophical movements, but to all areas of intellectual development, reflecting the interaction of philosophy with literature, politics, and science. As with previous volumes, this is truly the history of philosophy "without any gaps". Book jacket.