Undergraduates' first encounter with the very concept of the best life often comes in the form of Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics, a rich but sometimes difficult text which requires a sensitive and thorough guide. Here Warne (philosophy, Sir, George Monoux College) ably locates the major themes and their corollaries but gives readers the advantages of the subtleties not usually found in an introductory text. He describes the philosophical and historical contexts of the work, the key observations and results, methodologies for reading and analyzing the text, and commentary from such thinkers as Aquinas, Mill, Abscombe and contemporary scholars of virtual ethics such as MacIntyre and Hursthouse. Warne's guide to further reading is particularly well-chosen. Annotation ©2007 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)