A. C. Grayling`s lucid & stimulating books, based on the idea that philosophy should engage with the world & make itself useful, are immensely popular. The Challenge of Things joins earlier collections like The Reason of Things & Thinking of Answers, but this time to collect Grayling`s recent writings on the world in a time of war & conflict. In describing & exposing the dark side of things, he also explores ways out of the habits & prejudices of mind that would otherwise trap us forever in the deadly impasses of conflicts of all kinds. Whether he is writing about the First World War & its legacy, free speech, the advantages of an atheist prime minister or the role of science in the arts, his essays are always enlightening, enlivening & hopeful.