Book excerpt: The ancient Stoics repeatedly stressed the monolithic comprehensiveness of their philosophy, and this book is the only one to provide a holistic grasp of their attempt to synthesize the whole of the human condition into a unified view. Originally published in 1962, An Essay on the Unity of Stoic Philosophy was far ahead of its time. Now a pivotal text, it lays out the core ideas of Stoicism and their interconnection against the backdrop of Aristotelian philosophy, providing a coherent understanding of the many--and sometimes divergent--philosophies the Stoics formulated. At once penetrating and lucid, Johnny Christensen's book is brought back into print in a second edition for a new audience.