A reader-friendly, yet philosophically sharp and textually reliable introduction to one of the classics of western philosophy. Westphal shows why the dramatic, quasi-historical, structure of Hegel’s work is not accidental to it, but is rather required by the reflective, self-critical, nature of judgement that Hegel assumes from the beginning. The book will be of interest to readers who approach Hegel with analytical as well as phenomenological preconceptions, and of use (but for different reasons) to undergraduates and graduate students alike. --George di Giovanni, McGill University