Secularism, the belief that religion should not be part of the affairs of the state or part of public education, is an increasingly hot topic in global public, political, and religious debates. Andrew Copson tells the story of secularism, discussing secular republics and the challenges they can face from resurgent religious identity politics.

Copson has managed to put together an accessible, but surprisingly nuanced and comprehensive, introduction to secularism that would be appropriate for undergraduate classrooms or lay readers interested in the topic.

Today's world is in dire need of the noble tradition of secularism, and I know nobody better qualified than Andrew Copson to expound it.

This is an exceptionally careful, fair-minded and positive introduction to the many meanings of a word often carelessly used. It will be an enormous help to all who want to understand better the current controversies about religious belief and modern society.

A must read. It is a worthwhile introduction that will inform and may correct some assumptions and prejudices.

Concise and fair-minded ... Secularism helps the reader navigate [the] ... shifting terrain admirably.

Andrew Copson's short book covers a lot of ground. It is one of the best books I've read in this excellent series. Copson [...] provides a balanced and generous interpretation that presents arguments on different sides ... His approach is subtle and intelligent, and is informed by a deep understanding of the positions of those with whom he disagrees. I learnt a great deal from reading this.

Recommended.

Copson is even-handed in his analysis ... This is as nuanced a defence of secularism as you'll find

Andrew Copson ... looks for genuine debate in Secularism ... It is natural to review books on atheism and secularism together. The intersection of the two groups is large. But one of the chief benefits of reading Copson is that he enables us to think more deeply about how they diverge.

It is to Andrew Copson's credit that his short book refuses to circumvent ... big issues but rather brings them blinking out into the light and enables readers to understand better and think more clearly about them. It is undoubtedly the author's hope-and by and large this reviewer's too-that by the end of the book readers will look more positively on secularism. But that would mark not the end of a debate, but the start of a new one. Secularism yes. But what kind?

An excellent and sympathetic introduction to secularism

[Copson's] new book strikes the rare balance of being both entertaining and informative ... [His] gift, it seems, is the ability to condense decades of the evolution and analysis of the concept of secularism into 140 short pages.

Secularism is of growing importance all over the world, yet it is also an approach with deep roots reaching far back into our history. Andrew Copson elegantly explores this history as well as secularism's importance today, showing how it evolved and how it is the key to de-escalating so many of the modern world's points of conflict.

Andrew Copson is one of the most thoughtful people in the world on secularism. We have never needed a sane, intelligent, persuasive guide to secularism more than now - so I'd say thank God for this excellent book, if that wasn't too obviously ironic.

A timely tour de force and indispensable analysis for anyone seeking to get to grips with the roots, philosophy, and current controversies surrounding secularism which are challenging our vexed world.

A secular state embraces freedom of religion or belief, the equal treatment of persons regardless of faith, and the separation of religious and state authorities. In this wide-ranging and timely study Andrew Copson describes the virtues of secularism as the guarantor of equal dignity, freedom, and security for all, but also the various platforms from which it is opposed, and its fragile and increasingly beleaguered state across the world. Scrupulously fair, his book brings much-needed clarity into a confused and embittered area of dispute.

This is a dazzling tour of the history and meanings of Secularism. Copson pulls off that most compelling thing a synthesis of nuance and rigour that is global in its vision, historical in its foundation, but fully contemporary in its relevance. For being so intimately involved in advocacy, the author demonstrates balance and understanding of critical as well as supportive positions, and with its authoritative research base this is immensely useful for student learning in the growing arena of Studies in Nonbelief.

Andrew Copson is the Chief Executive of the British Humanist Association, where he was previously Director of Education and Public Affairs; First Vice President of the International Humanist and Ethical Union; and a former Director of the European Humanist Federation. In these capacities he is one of the most experienced and prolific advocates of secularism, its study, and its implementation. For over a decade he has carried out a range of national and international practical secularist policy work and spoken internationally on secularism. He has been an associate of the Centre for Law and Religion and the University of Cardiff since 2008, and represented the secularist point of view on public or other bodies such as the Foreign Office's Advisory Panel on Freedom of Religion or Belief and the Woolf Institute's Commission on Religion and Belief in British Public Life. He co-edited The Wiley-Blackwell Handbook on Humanism (Wiley-Blackwell, 2015), with A C Grayling.