Inventing the Enemy

Whether discussing the relationship between our knowledge and God, abortion, stem cells, embryos, the right to life, or reviews of James Joyce’s Ulysses by fascist journalists of the 1920s and 1930s, this collection gleams with clarity, depth and wisdom

The Good Book Guide

[A] philosophical football match that encompasses myth, literature and history... Discursive, grandiose, witty stuff from the quintessential savvy professor

Monocle

[Eco’s] mind is still as fecund as ever, as demonstrated by this collection of essays… Eco may be an intellectual of the highest order, but there’s nothing forbidding about this collection of essays which are readable and thought-provoking

Fachtna Kelly, Sunday Business Post

All of [Eco’s essays] pay tribute to history, giving his work their characteristically accessible weight and depth, often conveying some new nugget of information

Lesley McDowell, Glasgow Sunday Herald

Eco's greatest virtue might be said to lie in his ability to clarify the exact nature of our present perplexities...lucid, logical and always firmly on the side of civilisation

TLS

Eco's writing has a unique ability to dance on the page and to resonate in the mind

Daily Telegraph

For the sheer depth and clarity of his learning and wisdom, Eco has no living rival

Harpers Baazar

There is plenty here for everyone, and some of it is up-to-the-minute. The subtitle may be a semi-provocative exaggeration, but this collection of occasional pieces does cover a lot of ground

Nicholas Lezard, Guardian

Thought provoking… nuanced, accessible prose… the collection amply shows off Eco’s sophisticated, agile mind and will undoubtedly bring pleasure to readers familiar with his worlds while enriching those willing to learn about them

Publisher's Weekly