The book has been edited, with Lord Russell's full approval and cooperation, by Professor Paul Edwards of the Philosophy Department of New York University. In an Appendix, Professor Edwards contributes a full account of the highly controversial "Bertrand Russell Case" of 1940, in which Russell was judicially declared "unfit" to teach philosophy at the College of the City of New York.
Whether the reader shares or rejects Bertrand Russell's views, he will find this book an invigorating challenge to set notions, a masterly statement of a philosophical position, and a pure joy to read.
Why I am not a Christian --
Has religion made useful contributions to civilization? --
What I believe --
Do we survive death? --
Seems, madam? Nay, it is --
Free man's worship --
On Catholic and Protestant skeptics --
Life in the Middle Ages --
Fate of Thomas Paine --
Nice people --
New generation --
Our sexual ethics --
Freedom and the colleges --
Can religion cure our troubles? --
Religion and morals --
Appendix: How Bertrand Russell was prevented from teaching at the College of the City of New York
?El terror, en los cuentos de Mariana Enriquez, se desliza como un jadeo de agua negra sobre baldosas al sol. Como algo imposible que, sin embargo, podr¨ªa suceder? (Leila Guerriero).
?Su escritura es tan aut¨¦ntica y perspicaz que consigue evocar una realidad m¨¢s v¨ªvida que la que nos rodea. Todo ello, resultado de su destreza y meticulosidad. La prueba de que nos hallamos ante una escritora de primera clase? (Daniel Gumbiner, McSweeney¡¯s).