Peter Hitchens book is a thoughtful, compelling and artfully written story of one man’s journey from atheism back to faith. If you are expecting the acerbic, antagonistic wit of the elder brother Christopher Hitchens then you will be disappointed. Peter Hitchens writing is a gentle and fluid movement through an age of great change in the western world as seen through the eyes of his own life. There is a great appeal to twentieth century western history as Hitchens weaves a tale that shows the slow and steady march of the west away from Christianity and the not coincidental increase in its own corruption and increasing moral failure. Do not be mistaken, Hitchens is not writing an apology for Christianity and is often quite critical of certain decisions churches and Christians have made which seem to have hastened its own abandonment. Nevertheless what he does provide is a clear and personal account of some of the reasons for the abandonment and how it has led to the state the western world finds itself in now.

The book reads very quickly but is not an encyclopedic listing of why God is good and atheism is bad. Rather, Hitchens writes of an atheism born out of immature arrogance and a Christian faith reborn out of an increasing awareness that atheism was neither fulfilling nor honest.

The book would make an excellent book club selection and is sure to generate loads of discussion, especially as a counterpoint against Christopher Hitchens thoroughly well written book God is Not Great. I highly recommend it. Please note, whether you are an atheist, agnostic or faith-based person you will find this book enjoyable and insightful if for no other reason than it was written by a man raised in the same household, by the same parents and in the same cultural environment as the western world’s leading and loudest atheist voice today.