Anxiety about the threat of atheism was rampant in the early modern period, yet fully documented examples of openly expressed irreligious opinion are surprisingly rare. England and Scotland saw only a handful of such cases before 1750, and this book offers a detailed analysis of three of them. Thomas Aikenhead was executed for his atheistic opinions at Edinburgh in 1697; Tinkler Ducket was convicted of atheism by the Vice-Chancellor's court at the University of Cambridge in 1739; whereas Archibald Pitcairne's overtly atheist tract, Pitcairneana, though evidently compiled very early in the eighteenth century, was first published only in 2016. Drawing on these, and on the better-known apostacy of Christopher Marlowe and the Earl of Rochester, Michael Hunter argues that such atheists showed real 'assurance' in publicly promoting their views. This contrasts with the private doubts of Christian believers, and this book demonstrates that the two phenomena are quite distinct, even though they have sometimes been wrongly conflated.

‘Hunter leads us into his subject with authority, deftly uncovering the irreligious underbelly of pre-Enlightenment England and Scotland.’

Alexandra Walsham Source: London Review of Books

‘Since the 1980s, Michael Hunter has visited the subject of early modern atheism in Great Britain on numerous occasions, investigating the existence of atheism before the Civil Wars as both a negative, hostile discourse (which is easier to find) and as a serious view with real adherents (which requires rather more detective work). The volume is the capstone of four decades of thoughtful research on the problem, with fresh archival evidence to bear on the discussion and points of methodological interest for the historiography of atheism in general … Students of the history of atheism, regardless of their allocated time and place, will benefit from this careful and detailed study.’

John Henry Source: Journal of British Studies

‘Michael Hunter’s meticulous analysis of atheism in early modern Britain, which he reassesses thoroughly in its different manifestations and implications, make this volume an important and original contribution to the study of this complex subject. For these reasons, this book is highly recommended to all those interested in reaching a better understanding of atheistic ideas, their development and manifestations, and the reactions they elicited in the early modern period.’

Diego Lucci Source: The Journal of Ecclesiastical History

‘Michael’s Hunter’s latest book serves as something of a capstone. In addition to his well-known work on the Royal Society, Robert Boyle, magic and the occult, Professor Hunter has been an important historian of early modern atheism … This book is an engrossing, if somewhat peripatetic, exploration of atheism in the early modern Anglophone world … a judicious and detailed foray into its subject by a well-versed expert. Its combination of three micro-histories alongside several more general, survey-like chapters proves an effective approach to a subject that has always been as elusive as it is fascinating.’

Jeffrey Collins Source: History of European Ideas