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George William Foote (11 January 1850 - 17 October 1915) was a British secularist and journal editor. n his Reminiscences of Charles Bradlaugh he recalls coming to London in January 1868 with "plenty of health and very little religion." He was taken to Cleveland Hall by a friend, and "heard Mrs. [Harriet] Law knock the Bible about delightfully. She was not what would be called a woman of culture, but she had what some devotees of 'culchaw' do not posses-a great deal of natural ability..." A few weeks later Foote heard Charles Bradlaugh speaking at the hall.[1] He became involved with the secularism, freethought and republicanism, joining the Young Men's Secular Association, the National Secular Society, and contributing to Bradlaugh's National Reformer. In 1877 Foote joined the anti-Bradlaughites in the breakaway British Secular Union. The split was caused by several factors: Bradlaugh's alleged autocratic style; Bradlaugh's association with Annie Besant; and Bradlaugh and Besant's involvement in promoting birth control and Neo-Malthusianism. The BSU was relatively short-lived, and Foote himself was reconciled to Bradlaugh within a few years, becoming an NSS vice-president from 1882. The Secularist: A Liberal Weekly Review (1876-1877), Foote's first attempt to launch his own publication, in collaboration with George Jacob Holyoake, did not last long. In May, 1881, Foote started a serial publication called The Freethinker, which is still published. As a result of contents of this journal, Foote was charged with blasphemy, and eventually imprisoned for one year with hard labour. On receiving his sentence from Mr Justice North (a devout Catholic), Foote said "with great deliberation" to the Judge "My Lord, I thank you; it is worthy of your creed." His description of this experience was published in 1886 as Prisoner for Blasphemy. Once released, Foote continued to be active promoting his ideals, writing books and pamphlets, lecturing, and debating. Foote was well-versed in literature, and had extensive knowledge of ancient and contemporary writers, and ecclesiastical history. In 1890 Foote succeeded Bradlaugh as President of the National Secular Society and remained in that role for twenty-five years. His death was related by Chapman Cohen in The Freethinker (31 October 1915): When I saw him on the Friday (two days) before his death he said, "I have had another setback, but I am a curious fellow and may get all right again." But he looked the fact of death in the face with the same courage and determination that he faced Judge North many years ago. A few hours before he died he said calmly to those around him, "I am dying." And when the end came his head dropped back on the pillow, and with a quiet sigh, as of one falling to sleep, he passed away.

Seasons of Freethought brings the Freethought publications of G.W. Foote together in one collected volume. For the first time in print, you can enjoy Arrows of Freethought and Flowers of Freethought in two volumes. As founder of the Freethought magazine called the "Freethinker," Foote used the power of the pen to slay the imaginary beasts of human superstition. His witty criticism of religious intolerance, injustice, and hypocrisy prevalent in his day is mirrored by the secular revival of the New Atheist movement today. This collection is a must own for anyone who feels fed up with religious intolerance or is growing disillusioned with their own religious faith. G.W. Foote was a great defender of reason, rationality, and the Freethought cause. A perfect book for sharing the secular worldview and for starting conversations about what it means to be a nonbeliever. Edited and revised for a modern readership, this affordable anthology is for a new generation of Freethinkers.

An Open Access edition of this book is available on the Liverpool University Press website and the OAPEN library. Fictional reconstructions of the Gospels continue to find a place in contemporary literature and in the popular imagination. Present day writers of New Testament fiction and drama are usually considered as part of a tradition formed by mid-to-late-twentieth-century authors such as Robert Graves, Nikos Kazantzakis and Anthony Burgess. This book looks back further to the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries, when the templates of the majority of today’s Gospel fictions and dramas were set down. In doing so, it examines the extent to which significant works of biblical scholarship both influenced and inspired literary works. Focusing on writers such as Oscar Wilde, George Moore and Marie Corelli, this timely new addition to the English Association Monographs series will be essential reading for scholars working at the intersection of literature and theology.