by S.T. Joshi
Prometheus Books, $19.00, 271 pages
As S.T. Joshi states in the introduction to his book The Unbelievers, the definitive history of Atheism, and those who adhere to it, has yet to be written. Once a socially unacceptable (it could get you killed) and radical viewpoint, in recent years atheism has emerged from the fringes. Numerous books have come out by atheists that have attempted to both explain their world view and/or point out the flaws, hypocrisies, and errors found in Theism.
S.T. Joshi’s The Unbelievers is a quick look at fourteen atheists of the modern age. The book starts with Thomas Henry Huxley and ends with Christopher Hitchens and between them covers such diverse figures as the horror author H.P. Lovecraft and the author Gore Vidal. S. T. Joshi notes that unlike religious creeds Atheism has no unifying principles or hierarchy; the central tenant is not any “thing “but rather the lack of belief and so there are as many varieties of Atheism as there are atheists. For a reader trying to grasp just what Atheism can be The Unbelievers is an excellent introduction.
Reviewed by Jonathon Howard