Presocratic philosophy : a very short introduction

"Generations of philosophers, both ancient and modern, have traced their inspiration back to the Presocratics. Even though some of the Presocratic philosophers wrote little, and little of what they wrote remains, we can sense the adventure in their early explorations into the nature of reality, time, space, infinity, and the origin of the universe. From their intrepid beginnings, 2,500 years ago, Western philosophy has developed into what it is today.".
"In this Very Short Introduction Catherine Osborne examines some key Presocratic philosophers and Sophists, from Thales to Pythagoras, and Heraclitus to Protagoras. She invites the reader to reconstruct the evidence and scrutinize the philosophical theories, starting with the tattered fragments from a recently discovered papyrus text of a poem by Empedocles. Plentiful excerpts from this and other ancient sources highlight the way in which our understanding of the earliest philosophers is influenced and enriched by generations of philosophically motivated interpreters."