Here, for the first time in paperback, is Colin Wilson's second book, successor to his acclaimed The Outsider. In it he answers the charge that the Outsider is just an intellectual fad, showing instead that he is a powerful symbol of rebellion against materialist society and a product of the lack of spiritual tension, or vision, in all declining civilisations.

In a series of studies ranging from Bernard Shaw to Wittgenstein he probes deeper into the psychology of the Outsider while at the same time establishing the historical and cultural background. In these examples we see the development of Colin Wilson's central concern; how can man extend his consciousness? - a concern which he has developed constantly over the ensuing twenty-five years and more.

In a new introduction the author, while looking back at his younger self with some wry criticism mingled with approval, affirms his belief in the Outsider as a contemporary symbol. The only difference now, he feels, is that the Outsider has never had it so good.