Nigel Warburton

It seems that he covers most of the major positions and philosophers in a general and non-technical way; his choice of philosophers to discuss seems very good. But, once you have a general impression, then it is necessary and beneficial to begin to read the philosophers themselves, to read more thorough expositions and commentaries.
If you are just beginning to find your way in Philosophy, you could do worse to read the originals by Mill then perhaps Descartes and Kierkegaard as these philosophers avoid a lot of jargon and do not presuppose a major background in the history of philosophy to understand their positions.
Above any others, Plato's Apology of Socrates is in so many ways the cornerstone of all philosophical thinking that it must be read. Whitehead remarked that all philosophy is a footnote to Plato, so also read the Republic.
Cheers,
John

Yes, I have read a lot of Plato and Aristotle, also Descartes and have read a good deal of Copleston's History of Philosophy (not yet all 11 or 12 volumes, however!). I will get some of the material by Hume and Kierkegaard. Sometimes it is hard to know quite where to start or how to relate the material. It's much easier doing the reading for my other interest, Byzantine history!

You can't go far wrong reading Copleston; every philosophy major has a set handy. I would also suggest reading at least Mill's On Liberty; it is not that long and available online at several places.

He is a part of the podcast Philosophy Bites on BBC radio. You should subscribe to the podcast, it is usually 14-16 minutes long and features a broad variety of guests who are always quite interesting.

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