Bertrand Russell The Passionate Sceptic [Paperback]

Fascinating, brilliant, oddly moving, a warm human picture  this biography was enthusiastically received when it came out in 1957. And no wonder. It is not only the lively story of a distinguished man but a lucid account of his work and its significance. The author, who was himself a philosopher and journalist, has followed the bright thread of Russells personality with affectionate insight, from the three-day-old baby who looked about him in a very energetic way, and the boy who jibbed at taking Euclid on trust, through the many turns of his life, to the undimmed octogenarian, still questioning and still deeply concerned. The subject is a great one and the biographer has matched it.

Preface  1. The Boy in the Garden  2. He was Always Talking  3. Berlin and Marxism  4. The Work of Genius  5. Mathematics and Philosophy  6. The Theory of Descriptions  7. Reviews and Politics  8. A Quiet Life  9. Cambridge and Harvard  10. First World War  11. The Prisoner of Brixton  12. The Analysis of Mind  13. A Visit to Bolshevism  14. China is Delightful  15. Chelsea Candidate and American Lecturer  16. Russell and Relativity  17. Beacon Hill School  18. Marriage and Morals  19. The Indefatigable Author  20. Pacifism and the Second World War  21. An Outcast in America  22. The Rebel becomes Revered  23. Australia Felix  24. The Unfinished Philosophy  25. While Still at Work  26. The Young Octogenarian