[wannabebarista]

Here is basically the consensus take: "Almost all those who reviewed Russell's now famous History of Western Philosophy when it first appeared in 1945 were agreed about two things: first, that it is beautifully written, witty, clear, lucid and magisterial; and second, that it is not always accurate in its account of the thinkers it covers, nor always fair to them." [0]

The book is certainly worth reading but one should keep in mind its weak spots.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_History_of_Western_Philosoph...

[bitzun]

To illustrate, this is one of my favorite (humorous) lines from it, in the introductory chapter: "In the Eastern Empire, Greek civilization, in a desiccated form, survived, as in a museum, till the fall of Constantinople in 1453, _but nothing of importance to the world came out of Constantinople except an artistic tradition and Justinian's Codes of Roman law._"