I wish more well-read sages from the 60s wrote books like this one. Back then people learned rhetoric in school and they read enough books to recognize their most influential authors. Muggeridge is at his best when talking about his four: Bacon, Kierkegaard, Weil, and Tolstoy. More than that, he's conversant with a host of thinkers with which he has quibbles. The point: he's well-read and well-reasoned. That is, until he takes up the important battles of the day. His day, the 60s. Not very reasonable for right now readers.

My takeaway: keep reading, don't focus on the present at the expense of the important.