Ian Markham tackles a difficult job well. His job is difficult not because his opponents are so clever but because, as atheists, to quote one critic, they are pretty amateur even if entertaining. Historians, archaeologists and astronomers had the same problem with von Daniken and his theories that spacemen built the pyramids. His work contained so much misinformation they were at a loss to know where to begin. One second of ignorance can take an hour to put right. Oh for the days of real atheists, such as Bertrand Russell, who were philosophically literate! Markham writes lucidly. First he states his opponents' arguments and spends the rest of the book addressing them. He acknowledges that his chapter on Nietzche is the most important and the most difficult for the reader. It is difficult and his summary at the end does not achieve his avowed aim of making the difficult part comprehensible. A pity, because Nietzche was a genine atheist who saw and relished the full gruesome implications of his creed. Markham does not present all possible arguments in a relatively short book, but it represents a good start.
