Harvie Ferguson is Senior Lecturer in Sociology at Glasgow University.

`... remarkably thought-provoking study, ... But this is not your usual instroduction - this examination of both modernity ad Kirkegaard through the prism of the complex of phenomena termed `melancholy' gives both novice and veteran in Kierkegaard studies a very rich book, deserving and repaying re-readings.' - Religious Studies Vol 31

• Part I The physiognomy of the present age; Chapter 1 Melancholy; Chapter 2 Irony; Chapter 3 Reflection; Part II Despair; Chapter 4 Revolution of the spheres; Chapter te5 Between existence and non-existence; Chapter te6 The religion of inwardness; Part III Reduplication; Chapter 7 The upbuilding; Chapter te8 Edification; Inconclusive postscript;