Russell was a rational, no-nonsense philosopher who could discuss complex issues in plain and accessible language. In the essay, Russell debunks ignorance, and instead makes the humanist case for valuing knowledge, kindliness, and courage.

Long before the New Atheists there was Bertrand Russell, whose short essay offered a cogent and forceful argument against the religion in which he was raised.

Halvard Solness was clearly a portrayal of an older Ibsen, the artist who had replaced the writers of his age and now feared a new generation that would render him obsolete. The play looks at the conflicts between duty and happiness, aspiration and guilt, youth and age, and art and humanity.

This late play from the great Norwegian dramatist blended realism and symbolism, suggesting Ibsen was undergoing another change in his art, which was interrupted by his death.

This time the heroine must choose, not between a conservative and a radical partner, but between two radicals with different ideas how to help working people – and she chooses the poorer man. Eliot examines themes of political idealism, social justice and ethical radicalism in the book.

Eliot was one of the most extraordinary writers of Victorian times, a freethinker and radical, who had a relationship with a married man. It is not too surprising then that Felix Holt was a sympathetic study of a political radical.

Sherlock Holmes was the archetypal amateur detective who used logic and forensic analysis to solve mysteries, while Dr Watson offered a more humanising and identifiable presence.

A Study in Scarlet may not have signified the birth of detective fiction, but it helped to popularise the genre, and establish many of the tropes that would dominate crime stories for years to come.

In this iconic book, Conan Doyle introduced Sherlock Holmes to the world, the most famous literary detective, and one of the famous characters in all of fiction.

Lewis wrote his book to warn readers about the dangers of political complacency and the potential of a ruthless leader to manipulate societal fears. Lewis recognised the potential fragility of democracy, and dismantled the comforting illusion that his country was immune from Fascism.

Lewis’s book, imagining an unpleasant demagogue becoming a dictator in the country that had always prided itself on its freedom, may well have seemed like an outdated warning until events in recent years caused the book to find a new readership.