Presents excerpts on the subject of religion from the writings of such notable non-believers as John Stuart Mill, Karl Marx, Charles Darwin, Mark Twain, H. L. Mencken, Albert Einstein, Richard Dawkins, and Salman Rushdie.

Offers essays from Vanity Fair writers on specific authors, explaining their influence on other writers and the culture at large.

Throughout history, arguments for and against the existence of God have been largely confined to philosophy and theology, while science has sat on the sidelines. Despite the fact that science has revolutionized every aspect of human life and greatly clarified our understanding of the world, somehow the notion has arisen that it has nothing to say about the possibility of a supreme being, which much of humanity worships as the source of all reality....

Oscar Wilde was a prolific talent who ignored the boundaries in his art and his life. As a writer, he mastered many disparate forms: poems, essays, novels, plays and children's stories. His best-known work, The Picture of Dorian Gray, cemented his reputation as the most colorful force in the drab gray of Victorian England. But the nonconformity he expressed in his works and his appearance--he was famously flamboyant--would soon bring the Irish-born...

“Rebecca West’s magnum opus . . . one of the great books of our time.” —The New Yorker
 
Written on the brink of World War II, Rebecca West’s classic examination of the history, people, and politics of Yugoslavia illuminates a region that is still a focus of international concern. A magnificent blend of travel journal, cultural commentary, and historical insight, Black...