Within the past hundred years few scholarly tasks have proved so difficult or elusive as the achievement of a succinct yet comprehensive history of philosophy that conveys the majesty and essential content of the great traditions. If I were asked to name a book for a person who could read only on history of philosophy, I should select Windelband's. He combines conciseness with thoroughness in a quite extraordinary way. He is keenly aware of the relation between philosophic ideas and thier historical environment.