Anthony Kenny: An Illustrated Brief History of Western Philosophy

Is this the best choice for a true beginner in philosophy? I noticed there is a new 20 year anniversary edition that apparently adds some writings about modern philosophers but is only available in paperback. The older editions are available in hardback which I strongly prefer.
Folio Society has Bertrand Russell's History of Western Philosophy. Would this be the better choice?

You might want to ask in the Philosophy and Theory group: http://www.librarything.com/groups/philosophyandtheory

How to move it?

You can't move your post, but you can go to the other group and start a thread there.

>3 RickFlair:

Copy-n-paste your Post #1 into a new thread in the other group.

looks like that group is barely breathing

I read it a couple of years ago - see the work page for my comments An Illustrated Brief History of Western Philosophy. Bear in mind that you can get into philosophy perfectly well without slogging through from Thales of Miletus to Wittgenstein. The historical approach isn't the only way in, even if it is the way it tends to be taught at school. You might be better off diving in with a book on a part of the subject that particularly interests you, and then using a book like Kenny as a posh version of Wikipedia in case you get stuck and need to remind yourself which was Aquinas and which was Augustine.

(Or you could just read Sophie's world on the quiet...)