'... Atwell does deal with familiar topics inmuch of his work, but does so in a way that is fresh and penetrating as well as remarkably clear. ... in every chapter topics are treated in a way which admirably combines careful scholarship with a sense of what is philosophically important. ... As a work of a scholarship it seems to me to compare favourably with the best books on the subject, including those by Marcus Singer and Onora Nell.' Prof. W.H. Walsh+, Oxford, UK