Friedrich Nietzsche - Lee Spinks (Routledge Critical Thinkers)

Reasoning

The Routledge Critical Thinkers series is described by the series editor as being "designed for students who need an accessible introduction to the key figures in contemporary critical thought," which fits my needs perfectly.

What I Gained

There were three main things I took from reading this book:

1. It helped me distinguish between the superman and the 'higher men', which was a source of confusion towards the end of Thus Spoke Zarathustra.
2. It introduced the concept of eternal recurrence in a less cryptic sense, which shed some light on a few parts of Thus Spoke Zarathustra.
3. It highlighted to me that Nietzsche's key thoughts were the will-to-power, the eternal recurrence, and the overman.

Potentially useful quotes:

Next Steps

The book made a lot of references to Nietzsche's The Gay Science, considerably more so than any of his other books. I decided that my next step should be to read The Gay Science, as I feel like this book has given me a solid foundation of knowledge to continue primary reading from.