This anthology is a very good introduction to the thought of the Rambam. It contains large sections from the 'Mishneh Torah' and 'The Guide to the Perplexed'. It also contains explanatory notes which better help understand the texts.
For Rambam the highest aim of the religious life is attaining the intellectual love of God. He says in the 'Mishneh Torah' that when we perform certain precepts like putting on tefillin, or saying Shema we are helped in achieving the purpose of always loving God, and... more info
Excellent Beginning:
Not everyone wants to make an in depth study of one of the great minds of Judaism, but needs/wants an introduction. This book supplies the need. Excellent translation, nice selection of material, for breadth & depth. Not necessarily what a scholar or rabbinical student in the equivalent of a doctoral thesis defense will need, perhaps, but good for the informed layperson, or even most rabbis.
Indespensable , but insufficient:
I agree witht the other reviewers that this book is the best 1-volume collection of the works of Maimonides. It is especially useful in that it does not only focus on the philosophical magnum opus "Guide of the Perplexed" , but also on the parts of the commentary on the mishnah, occasional letters and especially the legal code Mishneh Torah, of which Twersky brings extensive quotes. Twersky's great contribution to Maimonidean studies was to show how the legal works illustrate many of the... more info
Surely the best book of its kind.:
The late Isadore Twersky's Maimonides Reader remains the best of its sort. Maimonides was the most unique Jewish writer and thinker since Talmudic days. The scope of his writings and influence are immesurable. This book brings many of his writings to the English reader and does an admirable job at that.
