Chomsky, Dawkins, Germaine Greer, Martin Amis ... with regular TV appearances, newspaper columns and cultural commentary, intellectuals are indispensable characters of modern life. But what is an intellectual? What distinguishes them from philosophers, scientists, politicians or entrepreneurs? Why are they happy to be insulted as long as they are not ignored? As well as a history of the intellectual from Ancient Greece to post-9/11, Steve Fuller introduces exemplars from the past - Voltaire, Sartre, Norman Mailer and Bertrand Russell - alongside many living examples in this essential guide to intellectual life.