"A set of ancient inscriptions on marble found forty years ago in southern Italy, recording details so bewildering that scholars have kept silent about them ... Sensational new information about a group of ancient philosophers who were so intensely practical that, two and a half thousand years ago, they shaped our existence and the world we live in ... These are just two ingredients of this extraordinary book, which uncovers an astonishing reality right at the origins of the Western world. Written by one of the most highly-acclaimed contemporary historians and experts in the field, it provides dramatic new evidence about the most important of ancient philosophers, Parmenides—and revolutionizes our understanding of the history of religion, of the origins of philosophy, and of Western culture as a whole."--