The Secular Mind

History of Doubt and Freethought

Doubt has a history, and it is older than its defenders usually claim. These books trace the intellectual and emotional dimensions of unbelief — how it has been generated, suppressed, recovered, and institutionalised across centuries and cultures. The critical question is how well the historical evidence supports the broader theses.

Tim Whitmarsh. Battling the Gods: Atheism in the Ancient World. Knopf Doubleday, 2015.