Fact and fiction

 Content: Introduction --
 Part I: Books that influenced me in youth --
 The importance of Shelley --
 The romance of revolt --
 Revolt in the abstract --
 Disgust and its antidote --
 An education in history --
 The pursuit of truth --
 Part II: Politics and education --
 What is freedom? --
 What is democracy? --
 A scientist's plea for democracy --
 The story of colonization --
 Pros and cons of nationalism --
 The reasoning of Europeans --
 The world I should like to live in --
 Old and young cultures --
 Education for a difficult world --
 University education --
 Part III: Divertissements --
 Cranks --
 The right will prevail or the road to Lhasa --
 Newly discovered maxims of La Rochefoucauld --
 Nightmares --
 The fisherman's nightmare or 'magna est veritas' --
 The theologian's nightmare --
 Dreams --
 Jowett --
 God --
 Henry the Navigator --
 Prince Napoleon Louis --
 The catalogue --
 Parables --
 Planetary effulgence --
 The misfortune of being out of date --
 Murderers' fatherland --
 Part IV: Peace and war --
 Psychology and East-West tension --
 War and peace in my lifetime --
 The social responsibilities of scientists --
 Three essentials for a stable world --
 Population pressure and war --
 Vienna address --
 Manchester address --
 What neutrals can do to save the world --
 The case for British neutralism --
 Can war be abolished? --
 Human life is in danger.
 Abstract:             Here Russell reflects on the books and writings that influenced his life, including fiction, essays on politics and education, divertissements and parables. This book provides valuable insight into the range of interests and depth of conviction of one of the world's greatest philosophers