Onfray has been widely lauded as this century's Nietzsche. The author has already written some 30 books and is recognised as one of Europe's leading contemporary philosophers. The book has sold more than 200,000 copies in France, and is a bestseller in Italy, Germany, Spain and Holland. In an age when fundamentalism has become stronger than ever, this book will be an explosive counter to the prevailing orthodoxy. This is a book that will help people understand the origin and evolution of contemporary terrorists' notion of wilful martyrdom, of "paradise now". A TLS Book of the Year.