What a Piece of Work : On Being Human

This is a small book on a large subject: what is special about human beings?

Hamlet mused, 'What a piece of work is man! How noble in reason! how like a god!' but went on to speak of 'this quintessence of dust'.

Helen Oppenheimer prefers to start with the dust and move to the glory: we really are animals - and from these animals has come Shakespeare.

People are indeed 'miserable sinners' - and also magnificent creatures.

The author does not disguise that she is a Christian theologian whose subject is ethics, but she writes equally for non-Christians.

Her invitation to the reader is: here is a way of looking at things that I find exciting and convincing - I hope you do too.