About This Book
The author compiles a sequence of essays replying to a critic's sustained attacks on his popular historical survey, dissecting the critic's polemical techniques and claiming misrepresentation. He defends the use of evolutionary theory and natural selection in explaining human origins, examines debates about prehistoric humans and the tension between fixity and progress, and clarifies his treatment of religious sources by acknowledging the gospels as historical documents and the Church's role in preserving learning. Alongside close readings of the critic's arguments, the essays reflect on methods of historical interpretation and the wider implications of scholarly controversy.