Battling the Gods
Atheism in the Ancient World

A lot duller than I thought it would be when I picked it up.......more

This book is utterly incredible. Whitmarsh gifts us the writings of famous philosophers and historians, who challenged the belief of the divine throughout antiquity, in a single book. We hear about pre-socratics from as far back as Thales of Miletus through to the ever influential Xenophanes of Colo......more

If you have already read some Plutarch, Pluto, Socrates and perhaps even "On the Nature of the Gods" itself then this is a beautiful book to tie thoughts and people/events together during that time period. If you have not then you might learn something about this time period and the nature and varie......more

I was not fully aware of the fact that atheism is widely believed to be an exclusively modern phenomenon. I know that not many people read ancient sources, but come on, what about Petronius in Quo Vadis? Oh well, I guess the movie is now also considered ancient, and the book is hardly recommendable.......more

As a hardline atheist, I must say this book disappointed me. It rambled for far too long about historical analysis that really had little to do with atheism. Some bits were very insightful. The best example being the section about Epicurus, and about how the Epicureans were the movement that walked......more