The Rage Against God by Peter Hitchens

Peter Hitchens was once an atheist, but is now a strong advocate of Christianity. Hitchens belongs to the Church of England, but one of its older branches, where the King James Bible is still in use, and this is the position he argues from in this brief book. He argues for Christianity as a force that holds society together, as something of a rebuttal to his brother Christopher’s book God Is Not Great. The book is split into three sections, firstly a memoir of Hitchens' return to the church which is an excellent piece of writing, and then two further sections that attack atheism less successfully.

The brevity of the book means that atheists are often broadly typed as a single group with one set of opinions, which never really works – far better is when Hitchens quotes and comments on specific arguments, particularly the response to Thomas Nagel, or to Christopher Hitchens, which draws out more complex and interesting issues. But the attempt to link the atheism of the Soviet Union to modern atheism doesn’t gain traction because it bypasses the democratic views of most modern atheists. It’s an often fascinating book, but one that’s unlikely to change many minds. [David Agnew]