FOUR HORSEMEN:

In 2007 Christopher Hitchens, Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris and Daniel Dennett - who subsequently became known as "The Four Horsemen" - sat down in Hitchens's library and, over cocktails, began a conversation which was become a landmark point in modern atheism. The video was set to record and what followed, a rigorous, groundbreaking and enthralling exchange has since been viewed millions of times since first posted. This is intellectual enquiry of the very highest order - exhilarating, funny, unpredictable, sincere and probing. This book comprises the entire transcript of that conversation, presented in print for the first time, and is augmented by new material from the living participants, essays by Dawkins, Harris and Dennett. These are arguably as important as that original conversation, as they mark the evolution of each's thinking over the ensuing 12 years and also highlight particularly resonant personal aspects of this epic discussion. Each man contends with the fundamentals of human existence while challenging the others to articulate their stance on religion, spirituality and debate with people of faith and the components of an ethical life. And the icing on the cake is an extended foreword by Stephen Fry in which he characterises the protagonists as the Four Musketeers - Porthos, d'Artagnan, Aramis and Athos respectively - as he introduces the conversation and essays in his own inimitable style. Erudite, profound and with no little humour, a sparkling introduction to modern atheism. 134pp. Apologies for small remainder mark.