Gullan-Whur's book is a detailed and intimate investigation into the life and circumstances of the 17th-century Dutch philosopher, Spinoza. Born into the Hispanic Jewish community in Amsterdam, he was excommunicated for his "heretical" beliefs that human beings belonged to a single, unified whole and for his view that God and Nature were one. Gullan-Whur sets out to show us the contradictions of a man whom Bertrand Russell once described as "supreme" within ethics. Spinoza felt that by keeping our emotions under control an ethical life could be attained - that "within reason" freedom could be achieved. This book reveals the man behind this philosophy as an emotionally stunted and sexually repressed misogynist. However, this is balanced out by Gullan-Whur's obviously deep respect for Spinoza and her attempt to outline the relevance of his philosophy to today. Though padded with
"may", and "probably" a little too often, this is still an impressive piece of research into the life of one of philosophy's least documented thinkers.