One of modern history’s great thinkers takes on prejudice, superstition, and conventional wisdom, using wit and insight to argue for a rational way of life. In a brilliant series of essays, Bertrand Russell uses challenging skepticism and sharp humor to attack the obstacles to building a society based on reason. Russell’s thoughts are as lively and pertinent today as when they were written. His topics range from the defects of the education system to the failure of the belief among the younger generation, from our mistaken concepts of democracy to the ever-present threat to freedom throughout the world—even in the West which prides itself so much on being free.