Is modern racism a product of secularisation and the decline of Christian universalism? The debate has raged for decades, but up to now, the actual racial views of historical atheists and freethinkers have never been subjected to a systematic analysis. Race in a Godless World sets out to correct the oversight. It centres on Britain and the United States in the second half of the nineteenth century, a time when popular atheist movements were emerging and scepticism about the truth of Christianity was becoming widespread. Covering racial and evolutionary science, imperialism, slavery and racial prejudice in theory and practice, it provides a much-needed account of the complex and sometimes contradictory ideas espoused by the transatlantic community of atheists and freethinkers. It also reflects on the social dimension of irreligiousness, exploring how working-class atheists' experiences of exclusion could make them sympathetic to other marginalised groups. -- .

A Beam of Light By Nathan Phillips Even in the darkest of places there will always be a beam of light to shine the way Follow Fish on his adventure from the salty waters on the St. Marie cargo ship to the hot sands of the deserted island of the Shinta people. He struggles to survive the dangerous ocean and the fierce explorers ready to claim the island. Fish fights for the rights of his native friends and is taught how your future is your choice.

In addition to the celebrated Lower Depths, this volume contains a biographical sketch of Gorky by Alexander Bakshy and two of his less well-known plays, Enemies and The Zykovs.