From one of EnglandÕs most distinguished intellectual historians comes Òan exhilarating rideÉthat will stand the test of time as a masterful account ofÓ (The Boston Globe) one of the WestÕs most important intellectual movements: Atheism. In 1882, Friedrich Nietzche declared that ÒGod is deadÓ and ever since tens of thousands of brilliant, courageous, thoughtful individuals have devoted their creative energies to devising ways to live without God with self-reliance, invention, hope, wit, and enthusiasm. Now, for the first time, their story is revealed. A captivating story of contest, failure, and success, The Age of Atheists sweeps up William James and the pragmatists; Sigmund Freud and psychoanalysis; Pablo Picasso, James Joyce, and Albert Camus; the poets of World War One and the novelists of World War Two; scientists, from Albert Einstein to Stephen Hawking; and the rise of the new AtheistsÑDawkins, Harris, and Hitchens. This is a story of courage, of the thousands of individuals who, sometimes at great risk, devoted tremendous creative energies to devising ways to fill a godless world with self-reliance, invention, hope, wit, and enthusiasm. Watson explains how atheism has evolved and reveals that the greatest works of art and literature, of science and philosophy of the last century can be traced to the rise of secularism. From Nietzsche to Daniel Dennett, WatsonÕs stirring intellectual history manages to take the revolutionary ideas and big questions of these great minds and movements and explain them, making the connections and concepts simple without being simplistic. The Age of Atheists is Òhighly readable and immensely wide-rangingÉFor anybody who has wondered about the meaning of lifeÉan enthralling and mind-expanding experienceÓ (The Washington Post).