The Gathering of Infidels: A Hundred Years of the Rationalist Press Association

Gathering of Infidels
In 1899, a small group of men under the leadership of Charles Albert Watts founded the Rationalist Press Association (RPA) in London. Its mission was, among other goals, to promote rationalism and secular education as well as to publish freethought books at affordable prices. For more than a century the RPA has served as a bastion of reason in an often-irrational world. Its Honorary Associates have included such luminaries of the 20th century as Albert Einstein, Sigmund Freud, J. B. S. Haldane, Julian Huxley, Somerset Maugham, Bertrand Russell, H. G. Wells, and others.
Now experienced freethought historian Bill Cooke has written the first history of the RPA, delving deeply into its archives to tell a fascinating and illuminating story. Cooke discusses the association’s achievements and ideas, and profiles the key people involved in its development. At the same time, he does not shy away from its difficulties and controversies, offering a critical perspective that rationalists will certainly appreciate. He covers the historical background of the RPA’s formation, the crucial role played by Charles Albert Watts, its enormous publishing successes, the vicissitudes of war and peace, and the evolution of rationalist ideas. Full bibliographies and appendices are also included.
This scholarly yet highly readable and witty history of the Rationalist Press Association will be welcomed by all who value reason as humanity’s best hope for the future.

Bill Cooke, an independent scholar, is author of A Dictionary of Atheism, Skepticism, and Humanism; The Gathering of Infidels: A Hundred Years of the Rationalist Press Association; and A Rebel to His Last Breath: Joseph McCabe and Rationalism, among other books and articles. He was also senior lecturer at the School of Visual Arts, University of Auckland at Manukau from 1996 to 2008.