For many years now, Richard Dawkins has been an outspoken critic of religious faith and its pervasive influence on social attitudes and political processes. This time, however, he has taken an extra step: The God Delusion is a comprehensive, no-holds-barred attack on all forms of theistic religion. It is written in a popular style, and is well stocked with witty remarks and arresting anecdotes, but it is far from dumbed down. It invites us to grapple with arguments from moral philosophy and the philosophy of religion, as well as from the biological and physical sciences, sociological investigation, and a host of other difficult fields. Dawkins strides adroitly and confidently across all these areas, though he is particularly at home in Darwinian evolutionary theory.

I can imagine the book receiving criticism from experts in the various specialist fields that it draws on for data and arguments. For example, philosophers of religion may find the rebuttals of traditional arguments for the existence of God somewhat superficial compared, say, with the extended treatment in Graham Oppy's new book, Arguing About Gods. Dawkins no doubt simplifies at times, or makes debatable points; importantly, however, he does not mislead the reader or commit any obvious blunders (at least, I could find none). This is extraordinarily impressive in a work of such vast ambition and interdisciplinary scope.

The God Delusion argues strongly that theistic religion is not the historical source of morality (or even a useful support for it), is not compatible with the worldview of modern science, and does far more harm than good. Dawkins demolishes the idea that the claims of religion and the findings of science are insulated from each other, forming two non-overlapping "magisteria", or areas of intellectual authority. Moreover, he makes many points that other critics of religious belief evidently lack the courage to express, as with his view that indoctrinating young children into religious belief when they are far too young to understand the pros and cons is a kind of child abuse.

This project could have gone wrong in so many ways, but The God Delusion is lucid and enjoyable, sometimes passionate but never shrill, certainly not stodgy, and frequently laced with cunning humour. It confirms that Dawkins is one of the supreme communicators of ideas writing in the English language.