`Imaginative and intensely interesting.' Christopher Kelly, University of Cambridge `Exceptionally intelligent work.' Literary Review `There is nothing mealy mouthed about this hard-hitting and beautifully written assessment which, I am delighted to say, will cause a great deal of trouble.' The Sunday Telegraph `Teasingly stimulating, acutely critical, abundantly constructive, and certain to unleash endless debate.' Felipe Fernandez-Armesto, author of Civilizations and Millennium