Is it possible that at the origins of democracy in Athens, a murder was perpetrated against the patron saint of occidental philosophy, making him a martyr of reason and freedom of thought.? That is the essential question that gave rise to this book, to which the author dedicated the ten last years of his life.I.F. Stone (1908-1989) was one of the great figures of independent journalism in America, a spokesperson for civil rights in the Jeffersonian tradition.