The Faber book of Reportage. By John Carey 1987. 2430 years of horrors. Socrates taught that a good person never knowingly does wrong. "Unfortunately", the effect of Socrates teaching was disruptive since he opposed Tyranny. Accussed in 399 B.C. on charges of corruption of the young, he was condemned by the Athenian authorities to die by drinking hemlock. In the the book of reportage we get Platos eyewitness account of Socrates death. From there on we get eyewitness accounts from one gruesome historic event after another. I particular "enjoyed" a Viking funeral with gang rape and human sacrifice (992 A.D), the execution of Louis the 16th (1793 A.D), prostitutes in London (1839 A.D.), Winston Churchills account of the battle of Omdurman (1898 A.D.), Birkenau (1944 A.D.), My Lai (1968 A.D.) etc. But somehow I would have appreciated it, if John Carey had taken the time to tell me what he thinks it all means. One could end of up thinking that people are just a bunch of low lifes. After all that is not complete story. There are glorious moments also, as when Neil Armstong stands on the Moon in 1969. December 29th 2001. Simon Laub