A dazzling investigation into psychology, art and religion; the demise of capitalism; and the beginning of a new era from the author of IDEAS.

I would not wish to have missed The Age of Nothing by Peter Watson, a brisk 565 pages on the displacement of God from Western Culture. -- TOM STOPPARD TLS - BOOKS OF THE YEAR 2014 his erudition is formidable -- THEODORE DALRYMPLE THE TIMES In a vividly engaging conspectus of the formative ideas of the past century, The Age of Nothing shows how Nietzsche's diagnosis evoked responses in may areas of cultural life, including some surprising parts of the political spectrum. -- John Gray NEW STATESMAN I recommend this book to anyone who needs to know what the loss of religious faith has meant to the high culture of our civilsation and what, if anything, we might do about it... (it) covers a whole century of intellectual endeavour as lightly as it can. -- ROGER SCRUTON THE INDEPENDENT The beauty of this book is Watson's ability to impose order on a riot of ideas. PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY This book will appeal to anyone with intellectual curiosity about the human condition and the development of ideas. It will especially appeal to the non-religious reader. This isn't a book about, or even particularly in defence of atheism as a worldview, but it sets out objectively a history of non-religious thought that covers everything from science to poetry, incorporating philosophy, the rise of new age 'spiritualism' and therapy. -- GREG JAMESON ENTERTAINMENT FOCUS his erudition is formidable -- Theodore Dalymple THE TIMES The beauty of this book is Watson's ability to impose order on a riot of ideas. Publisher's Weekly This book will appeal to anyone with intellectual curiosity about the human condition and the development of ideas. It will especially appeal to the non-religious reader. This isn't a book about, or even particularly in defence of atheism as a worldview, but it sets out objectively a history of non-religious thought that covers everything from science to poetry, incorporating philosophy, the rise of new age 'spiritualism' and therapy. -- Greg Jameson Entertainment Focus I recommend this book to anyone who needs to know what the loss of religious faith has meant to the high culture of our civilsation and what, if anything, we might do about it... (it) covers a whole century of intellectual endeavour as lightly as it can. -- Roger Scruton THE INDEPENDENT In a vividly engaging conspectus of the formative ideas of the past century, The Age of Nothing shows how Nietzsche's diagnosis evoked responses in may areas of cultural life, including some surprising parts of the political spectrum. -- John Gray NEW STATESMAN

Peter Watson was born in 1943 and educated at the universities of Durham, London and Rome. He was deputy editor of New Society and spent four years as part of the ?Insight? team of The Sunday Times. He was New York correspondent of The Times and has written for the Observer, The New York Times, Punch and The Spectator. He is the author of thirteen books and has presented several television programmes about the arts. Since 1998 he has been a Research Associate at the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, at the University of Cambridge.