This old-ish selection was my introduction to Hegel. I found him just as impenetrable as I'd heard but -- surprisingly? -- interesting and even occasionally clear. I hate that sentence.

The strangeness of this volume begins early: editor Friedrich admits up front that he's never been exactly enthusiastic about Hegel's philosophy, which he considers "wrong" in many ways. The order of the selections is peculiar: The Phenomenology of Spirit is generally thought of as the entry-way to Hegel's system, yet here the selection from that work is placed last (except for a few brief political essays). The translations have probably all been superseded by later ones. BUT it's a wide range of texts, and Friedrich's editorial insertions are lively and sometimes funny. ( )