This book is a collection of essays on a spectrum of political, economic and social issues, plus ones which are philosophical and cultural. However, despite such variety, there is a good deal of inter-echoing between individual pieces. Emphasis has been given to a number of writers of the 19th and 20th centuries: those who, in the author's view, have done an enormous amount to set the intellectual agenda for Western culture in the 21st century. This is Tom Rubens's eighth published book on philosophy. He has also published fiction and poetry. He has spent most of his working life as a teacher of English, and describes himself as 'a social and political activist.'